The defending champion, two Big Ten powerhouses and an upstart who wasn’t even expected to attend his conference this season.
Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State were selected Sunday to play in the college football playoffs, giving the Big Ten multiple programs in the four-team field for the first time.
The top-ranked and reigning Champion Bulldogs and fourth-ranked Buckeyes meet December 31 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The second-place Wolverines and the third-place Horned Frogs, the only first-place finisher in the final four, will play at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona on the same day.
The national championship game will be held Jan. 9 at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and it could be a rematch between rivals Ohio State and Michigan in the soon-to-be Big Ten country if the conference expands.
The Buckeyes and Wolverines never played outside of their annual regular season game in a bitter rivalry that dates back to 1902.
With some drama but not much controversy, the top 4 of the CFP Championship Weekend Selection Committee prevailed. The most interesting part of the reveal was whether the committee would pair Michigan and Ohio State in the semifinals and whether Alabama could potentially go in as the first two-loss playoff team.
In the end, the committee had no surprises.
Committee chairman Boo Corrigan, the North Carolina state athletic director, said Ohio State’s wins over Penn State and Notre Dame helped the Buckeyes win over Alabama.
“When we looked at the overall work, the committee was pleased with Ohio State coming in at No. 4 and Alabama at No. 5,” he said in an interview with ESPN. Corrigan also said the committee made no special effort to avoid a rematch between Ohio State and Michigan in a semifinal.
The rest of the six New Year’s bowls were also set:
– Tennessee vs. Clemson in the Orange Bowl on December 30th.
– Alabama vs. Kansas State in the December 31 Sugar Bowl.
– Tulane vs. USC at the Cotton Bowl on January 2nd.
– Utah vs. Penn State in the Rose Bowl on January 2nd.
Georgia (13-0), who won the Southeastern Conference championship game in a loss, is a 6 1/2 point favorite against Ohio State, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Michigan (13-0), who clinched the Big Ten title, is favored by 9 1/2 points over TCU.
TCU (12-1) suffered its first loss of the season in the Big 12 championship on Saturday, falling to Kansas State in overtime. The loss made for a restless night for Heisman Trophy contender Max Duggan and the Horned Frogs.
“I was really nervous,” Duggan said of ESPN’s slow rollout of pairings.
Nothing to worry about for the Frogs, they had already built up enough equity to remain in the top four in an unlikely season after being selected seventh in the Big 12.
Ohio State (11-1) received a second life in the playoff race when Southern California lost Friday night’s Pac-12 championship game. A week after losing at home to coach Jim Harbaugh and Michigan, star quarterback CJ Stroud and the Buckeyes slipped to last place in the playoffs, best of a flawed group of contenders.
Alabama (10-2) finished fifth in the committee rankings and missed the CFP for the second time in its nine-year history. The Crimson Tide hoped, with a little lobbying from coach Nick Saban, to become the first team to lose two games and make the playoffs.
The committee instead simply moved Ohio State from fifth to fourth this week, setting up just the second matchup between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes. The only time Georgia and Ohio State have played was in the 1993 Citrus Bowl, a Bulldogs win.
“They have a lot of really great players because we’re recruiting a lot of the same kids,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.
It’s Georgia’s second straight CFP appearance and third overall. This time round, however, the Smart’s Bulldogs are the No. 1 team and the clear favorite, having followed up on last season’s national title with a perfect season. Stetson Bennett and the ‘Dawgs will aim to become the first team to repeat as CFP champions.
Ohio State is making the playoffs for the fifth time. The last time the Buckeyes were fourth seeds was in 2014 when they won their last national title.
This is the fourth time two teams from the same conference have made the playoffs. Alabama and Georgia made it from the SEC twice and the Atlantic Coast Conference made it once, as Clemson and ACC guest member Notre Dame made the 2020 pandemic-season playoffs.
Michigan is in it for the second time, again as a second seed after losing to Georgia in the Orange Bowl semifinals last season.
“It’s a team that really works and competes, and I think they really understand that if you want to make good things happen, you have to work, you have to fight for it,” Harbaugh told ESPN.
Last year, Michigan became the first team to make the college football playoffs after starting the season unranked in the AP Top 25.
TCU is now the second. The Horned Frogs are also only the 13th other school to make it onto the field in nine years. This lack of variety is one of the main reasons the CFP is expanding to 12 teams in the 2024 season.
The Horned Frogs, whose only national title came in 1938, have never played in Michigan.
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