Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Washington make College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff pairings are in and while they offer little surprise, there is a lot of intrigue.

As expected, Alabama claimed the top overall seed, with Clemson and Ohio State coming in at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. The only real suspense was No. 4, where Pac-12 champion Washington claimed the final playoff berth and the right to face the Crimson Tide.

Thus, the only change from the previous week’s rankings involved Clemson and Ohio State swapping spots with each other, which doesn’t change the fact that the two schools will face off on New Year’s Eve.

There will be some people who criticize the field, but it’s pretty fair. These four teams had the best cases based on results in the country. Penn State will be disappointed, as their Big Ten championship and victory over Ohio State wasn’t enough to overcome their two losses. Michigan will also be bitterly disappointed, not just because of how they lost their second game, but because there’s a case to be made that they were one of the four best teams in the nation. The committee went with what look to be the four best resumes in the country, though.