College Football Playoff Championship 2015: Dates, TV Schedule, Live Stream Info
The conference title games have been played. The champions have been crowned. After a long, dramatic, unbelievable season, the final four teams have been announced and the inaugural College Football Playoff has its bracket.
Oh, happy day! SportsCenter on Twitter postd the four teams that made the cut:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Below, we'll take a look at the full schedule and the teams that qualified for the postseason. For the first time, we have a playoff and more than two teams actually deciding the national championship on the field. Get pumped!
Games
| Playoff Semifinal Rose Bowl | Thursday, January 1 | 5 p.m. | Oregon vs. Florida State | ESPN |
| Playoff Semifinal Sugar Bowl | Thursday, January 1 | 8:30 p.m. | Alabama vs. Ohio State | ESPN |
| National Championship | Monday, January 12 | 8:30 p.m. | TBD | ESPN |
All contests will be live streamed on WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.
Analysis
There were more than a few unknowns heading into Sunday. But one thing that seemed assured was that Alabama and Oregon would finish the season as the top two seeds.
Last week's No. 1, Alabama, handled its business in the SEC title game, rolling over Missouri, 42-13. And now, after surviving the brutal SEC West, the Crimson Tide are a dangerous, battle-tested side that fully deserve their spot in the playoff.
Safety Landon Collins talked about the team's mentality after the game, per Chris Low of ESPN.com:
"The only thing on our minds was us. We knew ever since that loss to Ole Miss that every week was our season, and that’s the way we played—relentless. It’s going to be the same way in the playoff. We don’t care who we play. We don’t care where they put us. We just want a chance to win a championship, and we got it.
"
They'll certainly be a tough out. Nobody is doubting that.
Oregon is going to be tough to top as well. The Ducks absolutely smoked Arizona in the Pac-12 title game, winning 51-13 over the team that handed them their lone loss earlier in the year. That left more than a few teams impressed with the squad, including NBC's Tony Dungy:
After the top two, things got interesting. Still, it seemed inconceivable that an undefeated Florida State team that won the national championship a year ago would be left out of the playoff, especially after the Seminoles padded a flimsy resume with a 37-35 win over No. 11 Georgia Tech.
It hasn't been pretty for the Seminoles this year, but they've showed grit and resilience and always pulled it out in the end despite a slew of close games against inferior competition, a trait that will serve them well in the playoff.
With the first three teams easy enough to predict, that left Ohio State, TCU and Baylor all more than qualified to earn the final spot.
In the end, it was Ohio State that earned the nod. The Buckeyes absolutely smoked Wisconsin, 59-0, answering any questions about how the absence of J.T. Barrett would affect them. While the Buckeyes had a horrible loss against Virginia Tech at the beginning of the season to overcome, impressive wins over Michigan State and Minnesota on the road, along with the romp over Minnesota, made them tough to leave out.
And so the field is set and now the real fun begins. Well, it begins in a few weeks, at least. There was controversy, there was drama, but now we have our four teams and a champion will be crowned on the field.
It's hard to top that.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
