Clemson vs. Oklahoma, Alabama vs. Michigan State in playoff

In what might be a preview of what’s to come from the College Football Playoff committee, Michigan State moved up to third in the final Associated Press poll before bowl games begin.

The College Football Playoff has Alabama No. 2 and they will play No. 3 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. The Clemson Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Michigan State Spartans and Oklahoma Sooners are in.

Oklahoma opened as a 3-point favorite over the top-seeded Tigers.

It’ll be a rematch of last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl where the Tigers blasted the Sooners 40-6.

Stanford, which defeated USC in the Pac-12 championship on Saturday night, needed upsets in other conference title games to ascend into the top four. The Rose Bowl will choose between Iowa and Ohio State to replace Michigan State, the Big Ten champ headed to the playoff.

The Crimson Tide is the only team that also played in the first four-team playoff last season.

Alcorn State will face North Carolina A&T in the inaugural Celebration Bowl.

The national semifinals were set Sunday with minimal grumbling thanks to the cut-and-dried nature of Saturday’s conference championship games. A big difference from last season, when the committee had to choose from Ohio State, Baylor and TCU, and ticked off the Big 12 by jumping the Buckeyes past Bears and Frogs in the final rankings.

The programs meet again on New Year’s Eve, this time with a national championship game berth on the line. Alabama is a nine-point choice over Michigan State in the other CFP game.

USC finished 25th in the College Football Playoff rankings.

“When you looked at the body of work and the complete resume, that’s what pushed Michigan State just slightly ahead of Oklahoma”.

The College Football Playoff title game is scheduled for January 11 in Glendale, Ariz.

Middle Tennessee (7-5) of Conference USA takes a four-game win streak to the Bahamas for their first bowl since 2013. Oklahoma was No. 15 this year. Because of a lack of a conference championship, Oklahoma dropped from the 3rd ranked team to the 4th ranked team in the final rankings. The Tide will face No. 3 Michigan State, the Big 10 victor.

The AP Top 25 ballot of the News Sentinel’s John Adams.