College Football Playoff takes Alabama over Ohio State

There wasn’t much of a debate about the fourth team in the College Football Playoff after all.

Alabama got the nod over Ohio State and will meet top-ranked Clemson in a national semifinal game in the Sugar Bowl.

The Buckeyes, who defeated Wisconsin on Saturday night for the Big Ten championship, finished fifth in the ranking.

“Alabama was clearly the No. 4 team,” selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said. “The conclusion was widespread and strong. It was unequivocal.”

Oklahoma and Georgia are second and third and will meet in the Rose Bowl in the other national semifinal. The winners will play in the CFP Championship Game on Jan. 8 in Atlanta.

The top three teams were easily identified after Clemson (Atlantic Coast), Oklahoma (Big 12) and Georgia (Southeastern) won their conference championship games on Saturday.

The final spot figured to come down to Alabama and Ohio State, the first two winners of the CFP.

The Crimson Tide (11-1) lost its first game of the season a week earlier at Auburn and didn’t play in the SEC title game. Coach Nick Saban took to the airwaves on ESPN throughout Saturday to state Alabama’s case.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer did the same on Fox after the Buckeyes held on to beat the Badgers.

What Ohio State (11-2) couldn’t defend was a 31-point loss to Iowa during the regular season.

Hocutt, the Texas Tech athletic director and former Kansas State linebacker, called the loss “damaging” to the Buckeyes’ case.

“As we looked at Alabama's full body of work over the course of the season, we favored that body of work over Ohio State,” Holcutt said.

Alabama’s inclusion means the CFP will have two teams from one conference for the first time in its four-year history. Also, the Big Ten won’t be represented on the bracket for the first time.

Rose Bowl (national semifinal, Pasadena, Calif.): No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia, 4 p.m. Jan. 1 (ESPN)

Sugar Bowl (national semifinal, New Orleans): No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Alabama, 7:45 p.m. Jan. 1 (ESPN)

Cactus Bowl (Phoenix): Kansas State vs. UCLA, 8 p.m. Dec. 26 (ESPN)

Texas Bowl (Houston): Missouri vs. Texas, 8 p.m. Dec. 27 (ESPN)

Other Big 12, SEC and major bowls:

Heart of Dallas Bowl: West Virginia vs. Utah, 12:30 p.m. Dec. 26 (ESPN)

Camping World Bowl (Orlando, Fla.): Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 4:15 p.m. Dec. 28 (ESPN)

Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas): Stanford vs. TCU, 8 p.m. Dec. 28 (ESPN)

Belk Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.): Texas A&M vs. Wake Forest, noon Dec. 29 (ESPN)

Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.): Kentucky vs. Northwestern, 4:30 p.m. Dec. 29 (ESPN)

Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas): Ohio State vs. Southern California, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29 (ESPN)

TaxSlayer Bowl (Jacksonville, Fla.): Mississippi State vs. Louisville, 11 a.m. Dec. 30 (ESPN)

Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tenn.): Iowa State vs. Memphis, 11:30 a.m. Dec. 30 (ABC)

Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.): Washington vs. Penn State, 3 p.m. Dec. 30 (ESPN)

Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, Fla.): Miami vs. Wisconsin, 7 p.m. Dec. 30 (ESPN)

Outback Bowl (Tampa, Fla.): South Carolina vs. Michigan, 11 a.m. Jan. 1 (ABC)

Peach Bowl (Atlanta): Auburn vs. Central Florida, 11:30 a.m. Jan. 1 (ESPN)

Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Fla.): LSU vs. Notre Dame, noon Jan. 1 (ABC)

This story was originally published December 3, 2017 at 8:42 AM with the headline "College Football Playoff takes Alabama over Ohio State."