Stakes much higher when Clemson-Oklahoma meet again
The latest on the college football playoffs, bowl matchups and other news on selection Sunday (all times EST).
12:46 p.m.
No. 1 Clemson meets No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31, one of the two semifinal matchups in this season's College Football Playoff and a rematch of a bowl game from last season.
Only this time, the stakes will be a bit higher. Way higher, actually.
The Tigers are well-versed in how to get around Sun Life Stadium, and embarrassed Miami 58-0 earlier this season on the same field they'll see for the bowl game.
Oklahoma will be in the Orange for the 19th time, the most of any school. The Sooners were thought to be doomed by a midseason loss to Texas, but have won seven straight by a combined score of 364-136 to get into the CFP mix.
Clemson beat Oklahoma 40-6 in last season's Russell Athletic Bowl.
The winner of this game meets either Alabama or Michigan State for the CFP national championship.
12:34 p.m.
Finally, we have our playoff pairings!
And really, there can't be too many arguments, can there?
Clemson finishes No. 1 in the College Football Ranking and will play No. 4 Oklahoma in one playoff semifinal, the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31.
Alabama finishes No. 2 in the final ranking, and will play No. 3 Michigan State in the other semifinal, the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.
The winners will play for the national championship on Jan. 11 in Glendale, Arizona.
Alabama and Clemson won conference title games on Saturday night and held their ranking. Michigan State handed Iowa its first loss in the Big Ten title game to move into the playoffs, while Oklahoma had already completed its season and held on for the final playoff spot.
Clemson goes into the playoffs as the only undefeated team.
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Noon
Alcorn State will face North Carolina A&T in the inaugural Celebration Bowl.
The Celebration Bowl pits the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion against the Southwestern Athletic Conference winner. The game takes place Dec. 19 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Alcorn State clinched its invite by winning the SWAC championship Saturday, 49-21 over Grambling State.
North Carolina A&T shared the MEAC title with Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central. North Carolina A&T got the bowl spot because of a higher Sagarin rating.
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11:46 a.m.
The final regular-season Top 25 is out and Michigan State has moved up two spots to No. 3 behind Clemson and Alabama.
The Associated Press' poll has been released before the College Football Playoff selection committee reveals the field for the national semifinals.
Playoff pairings will be announced at 12:30 p.m.
No. 1 Clemson receives 59 first-place votes, No. 2 Alabama has nine, and Michigan State one from the media panel.
The Spartans, who were No. 2 early in the season, edge up after beating Iowa 16-13 in the Big Ten championship game.
Oklahoma slips one spot to No. 4. Stanford moves up to No. 5 after winning the Pac-12 title. Iowa drops two spots to sixth after its first loss.
Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State and North Carolina round out the top 10.
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11:15 a.m.
The Associated Press plans to release its final regular-season Top 25 poll before the four-team college football playoffs and the rest of the bowl pairings are announced.
The college football playoffs show begins at noon on ESPN.
There could be a few changes near the top of the AP poll following Saturday night's conference title games. The biggest could come from the Big Ten championship game, where Michigan State handed Iowa its first loss of the year.
Going into the game, Iowa was No. 4 in the College Football Ranking, with Michigan State No. 5. The top two teams, Alabama and Clemson, won their conference title games, while No. 3 Oklahoma did not play.
The four teams in line for the playoffs appear to be Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Michigan State.
