Get our free mobile app

The final four-team College Football Playoff field is set, with the selection committee having to make the toughest decision it had ever faced.

We knew going in that history would be made and that at least one team and its fan base would be left with some serious gripes. Would an unbeaten Power 5 champion be left out for the first time? Would the SEC be shunned? Would the No. 1 team going into the conference championship games fall out?

In the end, Big Ten champion Michigan was awarded the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 Alabama of the SEC in a matchup of two of the sport's bluest blue bloods. In the other semifinal, Pac-12 champ Washington, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 3 Texas of the Big 12.

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Alabama
CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game
When: Monday, January 1, 4:00 PM CT
Where: Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)
How to watch: ESPN and ESPN App

Michigan moved up to the No. 1 spot in the rankings after beating Iowa in the Big Ten championship game, and its reward is playing an Alabama team that is peaking at the right time.

The Crimson Tide offense looks much improved since the beginning of the season, and credit quarterback Jalen Milroe with leading the way. That offense, however, will have its hands full with Michigan's defense, which ranks near the top of most major categories.

While the Wolverines have made it unscathed through the entirety of their season (despite their share of tumult off the field), they will face their toughest test yet to make it to the championship game and get a shot at the national title.

No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Texas
CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
When: Monday, January. 1, 7:45 PM CT
Where: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
How to watch: ESPN and ESPN App

New Orleans will be the unlikely site to see Texas coach Steve Sarkisian reunited with the program, Washington, he led for five seasons before leaving for USC. Both teams won titles in their final seasons in their respective conferences, Texas in the Big 12 and Washington in the Pac-12, before realignment moves them to the SEC and Big Ten next year.

In two seasons at Washington, coach Kalen DeBoer has taken the Huskies to new heights, winning 24 of 26 games as they head to the playoff with a national-best 20-game winning streak. Sarkisian's turnaround in Austin didn't happen overnight, but it has taken him just three seasons to restore the Longhorns as a national power. The game will feature two of the nation's top quarterbacks in Washington's Michael Penix Jr. and Texas' Quinn Ewers.