The College Football Playoff will kick off on New Year’s Eve. Here is a list of the schedule for the semifinals, as well as the other bowls to be played that day.
While many people will be out celebrating ringing in the New Year, for most of the country, New Year’s Eve means one heck of a slate of college football. The day will include the semifinal games for the College Football Playoff, as well as the Taxslayer Bowl and the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowls. While the Taxslayer Bowl and Citrus Bowl are sure to garner the attention of the fans of the four programs playing in the game, all eyes will likely be on the semifinal matchups.
Below is a list of times for each of the four bowls to be played on New Year’s Eve, as they’re updated:
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl: Washington vs Alabama, 3 p.m. ET
Playstation Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs Clemson, 7 P.M. ET
Taxslayer Bowl: ,11:00am ET
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl: , 11:00am ET
In the No. 1 vs No. 4 matchup, the Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the Washington Huskies in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Alabama is coming off another SEC title, and will head into the game as the only undefeated team from the Power 5 Conferences. Washington won the Pac-12 title in decisive fashion over Colorado this weekend, and has lost only one game, an ugly home loss to USC a couple of weeks back.
The No. 2 and No. 3 seed battle will feature the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers, and it sure to be a dogfight. The Clemson Tigers rolled through the ACC this season, losing only on a last-second field goal to Pittsburgh a few weeks back. While Ohio State did not even participate in the Big Ten Championship, the committee felt they were one of the best teams in the country, and will bring their 11-1 record into their showdown with Clemson on New Year’s Eve.
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The winner of these two bowls will head to this year’s National Championship, which will be played on Monday, January 9, 2017. The game will take place at Raymond James Stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Alabama won the title last year, defeating Clemson in a classic battle, 45-40. Both teams will get another shot at the title this season, but each have a tall task in front of them if they want to get there.