[ot-caption title=”Freshman QB Jalen Hurts looks to lead Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide to a National Championship. (PHOTO: Brynn Anderson – Associated Press)”]

On Sunday at noon, the College Football Playoff Selection Show on ESPN revealed the four teams that will get a shot at competing for the national championship. The six teams believed to be in contention were Alabama, Clemson, Washington, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

The top two seeds were predictably Alabama (13-0) and Clemson (12-1), the teams that squared off in last year’s national championship game. There was much debate as to which of the remaining teams deserved a spot in the playoff. After much anticipation, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee announced that Ohio State (11-1) would be the third seed, with Washington (12-1) capturing the final spot in the playoff.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Alabama and Clemson absolutely deserved to be in. Their résumés were just better than everyone else’s. I believe that Washington also earned the right to be in the playoff. They dominated the competition all year with their lone loss coming to a Southern California team that may have been the hottest team in the country.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

The committee’s decision that I have an issue with is Ohio State being in the playoff over Penn State (11-2). Penn State not only beat Ohio State head-to-head in October, but they also won the Big 10 Championship. Ohio State is in the Big 10 as well and did not make it to the conference championship game. In doing this the committee devalued conference championships, something that they’ve stressed in years past. The committee’s decision is final, though, so let’s talk about the exciting match-ups in the playoff this year. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Both semifinal games will be held on December 31. Alabama will take on Washington at 3 P.M. ET, and Clemson will face Ohio State at 7 P.M. ET. Alabama is an extremely tough matchup for Washington, and the Crimson Tide will be big favorites over the Huskies. However, Washington has the best offense that Alabama has seen all year. Quarterback Jake Browning and his receiving corps, led by John Ross, will pose a big challenge to the Alabama secondary. They will need to put a lot of points up in order to have a chance at taking down the mighty Tide. I’ll take Alabama as they are simply too talented for the Huskies to hang with them.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

As for the matchup between Ohio State vs. Clemson, I believe Clemson will hand the Buckeyes a loss that will please those around the country who think Ohio State should not be in the playoff. Clemson’s quarterback Deshaun Watson was incredible late in the season, while Ohio State’s offense struggled to move the ball in its last couple games. Clemson’s defensive line is also possibly the best in the country behind Alabama, so I expect Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett to be running for his life for a large portion of the game.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

If my predictions come true, it would set the stage for a rematch of last year in the national championship game: Alabama vs. Clemson. I think that game would actually play out pretty similarly to last year’s game as well, with Clemson staying close for the entire game but just not having enough to take down Alabama. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Anything can happen in college football, though. The only thing that is certain is that there is a lot of exciting football to look forward to. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″] 

Sources: ESPN, NY Post, CBS Sports, USA Today, FBschedules.com

Photo Source