Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama chosen for playoff
The College Football Playoff Committee left an undefeated Power 5 champion out the four-team field for the first time ever on Sunday.
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama are the fortunate four who made the field in the last year before the playoff expands to 12 teams. All four are Power 5 conference champions.
Undefeated Florida State was left out of the playoff field in favor of Alabama, which had one loss. The Seminoles won the ACC championship on Saturday night, but suffered major injuries at quarterback late in the season.
No. 1 Michigan will face No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. on Jan. 1, while No. 2 Washington and No. 3 Texas will meet in the Sugar Bowl at 7:45 p.m. the same day. Both games will be broadcast by ESPN.
Florida State was No. 5 in the rankings, while Georgia was No. 6. The Bulldogs — the two-time defending national champions — were ranked No. 1 before losing to Alabama in the SEC championship game on Saturday.
The semifinals winners face off in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 8 in Houston.