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We're just a few hours away from the final College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings and learning about Notre Dame's bowl game opponent. But first, the national semi-finals matchups have been announced.
The Playoff Top 4
| DATE | TIME | BOWL | TEAM | TEAM |
| Thur. 12/31 | TBD | Orange | Clemson | Oklahoma |
| Thur. 12/31 | TBD | Cotton | Alabama | Michigan State |
Clemson holds on to the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 Oklahoma in what has the chance to be a very wide open high-scoring affair. The Sooners have opened as a 2.5-point favorite over the nation's only undefeated opponent.
In contrast, No. 2 Alabama will face No. 3 Michigan State in what could be an old-school drag-it-out low-scoring game with a plethora of 3-yard runs. The Crimson Tide open up as a health 9-point favorite over the Spartans.
These bowl games are slotted for either 3:00 or 7:00 PM ET on New Year's Eve although they haven't announced which game plays first yet.
If you're Alabama you have to be giddy as can be with a matchup against Michigan State. The Spartans are the exact type of team that the Tide are built to defeat. It'll be intriguing to see how well MSU quarterback Connor Cook heals from his nagging arm injury and how much Dantonio let's the big underdog role fuel his team.
The Orange Bowl has all the makings as the more entertaining matchup with 2 explosive quarterbacks and well-balanced offenses. Adding to the intrigue will be former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables facing his old team as he leads Clemson against Baker Mayfield & Co.
Notre Dame's bowl matchup will be announced today shortly after 3:00 PM ET on ESPN.