Conference championship weekend saw favorites Alabama, Clemson and Washington all claim victories with varying degrees of dominance.
With Alabama's crushing defeat of Florida the Crimson Tide is your clear-cut No. 1 seed and probably the only seed nobody will argue. Ohio State fans should breathe easy, too, as the Buckeyes are most assuredly in the field.
Here's how we see it:
| Bowl | Date | Location | MATCHUP | Prediction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIESTA BOWL | Dec. 31 | GLENDALE, AZ | SEMIFINAL | #3 CLEMSON vs. #2 OHIO STATE |
| PEACH BOWL | Dec. 31 | ATLANTA, GA | SEMIFINAL | #4 WASHINGTON vs. #1 ALABAMA |
| NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP | Jan. 9 | TAMPA, FL | SEMIFINAL WINNERS | TBD |
Was Penn State's win over Wisconsin enough to overcome a No. 7 ranking from a week ago and a 39-point loss to Michigan way back in late September? We won't know that answer until just after noon Sunday.
Clemson did just enough to turn back Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game and while the win wasn't overly impressive, it's hard to see Clemson falling any further than No. 3. Where things get foggy centers on how the committee feels about Washington's decisive win in the Pac-12 championship game over a Colorado squad forced to employ a backup quarterback along with their less-than-impressive non-conference slate.
Could the fourth and final playoff spot come down to a battle of resumes between Washington and Penn State? It certainly feels like it if you're in the camp that Ohio State is in based on their body of work featuring a 3-1 record versus top-10 teams as part of an overall 11-1 mark and the fact their only blemish can on a field goal block on the road against a team coming off a bye.
Washington believers will cite its 31-point destruction of then-No. 8 Colorado, a 44-6 spanking of Stanford, a tight win at Utah and a thumping of Washington State.
Meanwhile, Penn Staters have a case in that the Nittany Lions won not only the toughest division in college football but also the toughest conference headlined by their 24-21 win over Ohio State and of course last night's defeat of No. 6 Wisconsin.
Back to the Buckeyes: we've already heard the committee tell us that winning a conference championship is nice, but not required. Additionally, the committee has gone out of its way to tout the separation between Ohio State and Penn State and frankly, if the committee had designs on pushing out Ohio State in the final rankings it seems like they would've taken the opportunity to drop Ohio State a spot or two following its unimpressive 17-16 win at Michigan State instead of doubling down on the Buckeyes.
| Ellis | Ginter | Harrish | Lauderback | Lind | Nasrallah | Priestas | Seger | Shoemaker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA |
| 2 | OHIO ST | CLEMSON | OHIO ST | OHIO ST | OHIO ST | OHIO ST | OHIO ST | CLEMSON | CLEMSON |
| 3 | CLEMSON | OHIO ST | CLEMSON | CLEMSON | CLEMSON | CLEMSON | CLEMSON | OHIO ST | OHIO ST |
| 4 | WASHINGTON | PENN ST | WASHINGTON | WASHINGTON | PENN ST | WASHINGTON | WASHINGTON | WASHINGTON | PENN ST |
We'll all know soon enough. The College Football Playoff Committee will make its selections known at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, live on ESPN.
