Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma face off in College playoffs
The four teams set to compete in the NCAA football playoffs will be Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma.
The four teams chosen to compete in the College Football Playoff have been revealed.
SEC champion Alabama, ACC champion Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma were picked Sunday as the four teams that made the cut. The semifinal games will be played on December 29, ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 7.
Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio State all had numbers to support a spot in the CFP, according to ESPN.
The sports network said Georgia had the best strength of schedule of the three and Ohio State had the best strength of record, a statistic that measures how strong a team's record is given its schedule.
On Saturday, Clemson's Travis Etienne ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns, Trevor Lawrence threw two short scoring passes and the Tigers beat Pitt 42-10 to become the first team to win four straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship games.
According to USA Today, the weekend also saw No. 1 Alabama came back from a two-touchdown deficit to beat No. 4 Georgia in the SEC championship game, 35-28.
Notre Dame's Fighting Irish, who went 12-0 this season, did not play on Saturday, however, they made the playoff for the first time in school history.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Sooners were upbeat about their chances after a Saturday 39-27 victory over Texas.
"I get that there are other great teams out there, but I feel very confident this team can go forward and continue to win," coach Lincoln Riley told ESPN.
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has faced Clemson and Notre Dame and told ESPN there is "no comparison" between the two teams.
"Clemson is the best football team we have faced this season and they will probably win a national championship in my opinion," Narduzzi said. "That's a good football team from the front end to the back end."
The debate leading up to championship Saturday was whether Oklahoma or Ohio State might take the fourth spot if Alabama beat Georgia.
The wild card was Georgia beating the mighty Tide, which could have meant two SEC teams for the second straight season. Instead, the Bulldogs lost but played well enough to allow coach Kirby Smart to make that case that Georgia should remain in the top four.
The committee didn't buy it.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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