The final College Football Playoff bracket. (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports)
After four-plus months of on-field results and politicking by coaches, athletic directors and fans, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced Sunday the 12-team field.
The biggest question coming into Sunday was who would earn the final at-large spot between Alabama and SMU.
The committee put SMU (11-2) in the field one night after it lost 34-31 to Clemson on the last-second field goal in the ACC championship game. Alabama (9-3) is out after not making its conference title game.
That decision will be debated for a long time. As the for the rest of the bracket, here’s how it shook out:
First-round byes
1. Oregon (13-0, Big Ten champion)
2. Georgia (11-2, SEC champion)
3. Boise State (12-1, Mountain West champion)
4. Arizona State (11-2, Big 12 champion)
First-round matchups
No. 12 Clemson (10-3, ACC champion) at No. 5 Texas (11-2, at-large): Dec. 20, 8 pm. ET
No. 11 SMU (11-2, at-large) at No. 6 Penn State (11-2, at-large): Dec. 21, noon ET
No. 10 Indiana (11-1, at-large) at No. 7 Notre Dame (11-1, at-large): Dec. 21, 4 p.m. ET
No. 9 Tennessee (10-2, at-large) at No. 8 Ohio State (10-2, at-large): Dec. 21, 8 p.m. ET
Live28 updates
Full CFP field, byes, first-round matchups
Byes
1. Oregon 2. Georgia 3. Boise State 4. Arizona State
First-round playoff matchups No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, Dec. 20, 8 ET, ESPN No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, Dec. 21, Noon ET, TNT No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas, Dec. 21, 4 ET, TNT No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State, Dec. 21, 8 ET, ESPN
The College Football Playoff bracket is set. (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports)
Oregon favored to win CFP championship
Here are every team’s odds to win the national title (via BetMGM):
Oregon: +325
Georgia: +350
Texas: +375
Ohio State: +450
Penn State: +700
Notre Dame: +1200
Tennessee: +2500
SMU: +3500
Clemson: +4000
Arizona State: +4000
Indiana: +5000
Boise State: +5000
Committee values strength of schedule
Perhaps in response to Nick Saban’s tirade about the importance of strength of schedule, CFP chair Warde Manuel makes it clear they do take it into consideration.
Warde Manuel: “I want to make sure everybody understands that we value strength of schedule.”
CFP chair Warde Manuel said the committee had “quite a debate” over Alabama and SMU.
“The way SMU played in that (ACC title) game, losing on a last second FG. We felt like in this case SMU had the nod above Alabama, but it’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength of schedule.”
Shortly after it was announced that Clemson will play in Austin, Texas in the first round, Dabo Swinney exclaimed: “I’m gonna meet Matthew McConaughey!” 😂
Saban isn’t making much sense. Strength of schedule should be a factor but you can’t put a 9-3 team ahead of an 11-1 team just because they have a harder schedule
They’re yapping all about how good Alabama’s wins are and completely ignoring their embarrassing losses. It’s a clown show. Losses matter. The games on the field matter.
A reminder: The strength of schedule argument is largely on realignment and by association commissioners and rightsholders who consolidated leagues and made it certain that HALF the teams in a league wouldn’t play each other. That leaves a schedule that is an annual crapshoot in…
The Mustangs get the last spot in the field after their close ACC title game loss to Clemson. They’ll head to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions.
Indiana to play at Notre Dame in South Bend
It’ll be a clash of Indiana-based teams as the Hoosiers will head north to take on the Fighting Irish.
Tennessee to play Ohio State in Columbus
The Vols are going to be sour they didn’t get a home game and now have to face the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe.
Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State ranked 6-8
The Nittany Lions, Fighting Irish and Buckeyes will all host playoff games in their home stadiums.
Texas lands at No. 5, will face Clemson
Clemson is the other conference champion, but it is ranked well below the others and will slot in as the No. 12 seed in the bracket. Texas lands at No. 5 despite its second loss to Georgia in the SEC title game.
Four byes: Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, Arizona State
Also as expected, the Big Ten, SEC, MWC and Big 12 champs will get the first-round byes in the College Football Playoff.
No. 1: Oregon No. 2: Georgia No. 3: Boise State No. 4: Arizona State
On to the rankings
As expected, Oregon is ranked No. 1 and Georgia is No. 2.
Mayo Bowl sums up mood of college football fans
1) Can 2) They 3) Hurry 4) Up 5) So 6) We 7) Can 8) Pick 9) The 10) Mayo 11) Bowl’s 12) Team
