The College Football Playoff is approaching, and for the first time in the new playoff system’s six year existence, the Alabama Crimson Tide will not be making an appearance.  After the Crimson Tide suffered a loss in the last game of the regular season to Auburn, doors opened up to multiple one-loss teams to sneak into the playoffs.

LSU, Ohio State, and Clemson all went undefeated and won their respective conferences to just about guarantee each of them a spot in the playoffs. This left one-loss teams such as Utah, Oklahoma, and Baylor not only playing for a conference title, but for a possible bid in the College Football Playoffs.

After Utah was blown out in the Pac-12 Championship by Oregon, and Oklahoma defeated Baylor in overtime in the Big-12 Championship, the College Football Playoff Committee was left with little choice, obviously putting Oklahoma in the playoffs.

The Committee named the undefeated SEC Champion, LSU, as the number one ranked team in the country, which sets them up against the fourth seeded Oklahoma. This will be a game highlighted by talented quarterbacks in LSU’s Heisman winner Joe Burrow and Oklahoma’s two-time Heisman semifinalist Jalen Hurts.

 LSU’s defense has held strong against some of the highest-powered offenses in the country this year behind safety Grant Delpit, who was recently given the award for best defensive back in the country. After nearly allowing 50 points in last year’s College Football Playoff loss, Oklahoma has a revamped defense this year who is looking to create problems for the Heisman winning quarterback.

After being granted the second seed, the undefeated Big-10 Champion Ohio State Buckeyes will face the third ranked undefeated ACC Champion Clemson Tigers. This is another game with two highly touted quarterbacks in Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. Ohio State’s defense features Chase Young, a defensive-end who is arguably the best defensive player in college football, if not the best overall player.

Ohio State is trying to erase the bad taste left in their mouth from their last College Football Playoff trip after the Clemson Tigers handily beat the Buckeyes 31-0. Clemson’s head coach Dabo Swinney wants to have his team, who won two of the last three national championships, to leave the past in the past and focus on the task at hand.

LSU and Oklahoma will meet on Saturday, December 28th at 4 p.m. in the Peach Bowl at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ohio State and Clemson will play on December 28th at 8 p.m. in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

The winners of these two will face off in the National Championship on January 13, 2020 at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana at 8 p.m.

All three of the College Football Playoff games will be aired on ESPN.