After Utah lost to Oregon on Friday night in the Pac-12 Championship game, the various scenarios for the College Football Playoff were effectively set in stone. Oklahoma beating Baylor in overtime set them up to jump to No. 4 in the rankings and into the Playoff, provided LSU took care of business against Georgia.
The Tigers did that and more in a 37-10 victory that likely locked up the Heisman Trophy for quarterback Joe Burrow. All that was left, at that point, was drama surrounding who would be No. 1 and face the Sooners, and who would end up No. 2 and No. 3. Ohio State struggling early with Wisconsin and only winning by 13 opened the door for them to get passed by the Tigers, while Clemson blew the doors off of Virginia.
On Sunday, the top four teams were officially announced, with no real surprises, as Oklahoma slid into the fourth spot, Clemson stayed at No. 3, Ohio State dropped to No. 2, and LSU jumped to No. 1 after housing Georgia. That means the matchups for the College Football Playoff Semifinals on Dec. 28 are set as follows.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta): No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Oklahoma
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ): No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson
LSU will play a second straight game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and have a decided homefield advantage sticking in SEC country, while Clemson and Ohio State will meet on a much more neutral field in the Phoenix suburbs. The latter game figures to be the late game, although times aren’t announced yet, as it will be the marquee matchup of the semis given it being the rare matchup of undefeateds before the championship game.
