The four contenders for the College Football Playoff were selected on Sunday, setting up the semifinals for New Year’s Day.
Michigan’s 13-0 season earned the Wolverines the top seed.
The selection committee settled on Michigan playing No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl and No. 2 Washington taking on No. 3 Texas in the Sugar Bowl. The winners will meet in the national championship game on Jan. 8 in Houston.
This is the last time the playoff will be limited to four teams—there will be 12 next season—and the committee had to make its toughest calls in the playoff’s 10 years. Florida State and Georgia just missed making the field. FSU became the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be shut out, and Georgia is the first team excluded that entered championship weekend No. 1. Alabama ended Georgia’s 29-game win streak with 27-24 victory over the Bulldogs.
