College Football Playoff Championship 2015: Odds and Predictions for Semifinals

Fear not, college football fans, for New Year's Day will be here before you know it.

The weeks between the conference championships and the start of the playoff will feel like an eternity, especially for those fans with a rooting interest in one of the two semifinal games.

The final product should be more than worth the wait, as either of the two playoff games could easily serve as a national championship by itself.

Sugar Bowl

No. 1 Alabama (-9.5) vs. No. 4 Ohio State

Over the last few years, Ohio State's built a reputation for being a very good football team but one not quite ready for prime time, especially when playing the cream of the crop from the SEC. The Buckeyes might have a 2011 Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas, but that did little to counter the back-to-back national championship losses to Florida and LSU in 2006 and 2007 by a combined 41 points.

Hiring Urban Meyer was supposed to bridge that perceived gap between Ohio State and the likes of Alabama, LSU, Florida, Auburn, etc.

Bleacher Report's Ben Axelrod wrote an article titled "Is Ohio State 'SEC Enough' to Beat Alabama in the College Football Playoff?" and argued that Meyer's work on the recruiting trail has helped put the Buckeyes on level pegging:

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Ohio State will always possess plenty of players from its own talent-rich state, but one glance at the Buckeyes' roster shows that this is far from your father's Ohio State squad.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a key player on this year's Buckeyes team who wasn't wooed by a school from the SEC, as Meyer hasn't been afraid to go head-to-head with his former conference on the recruiting trail.

Meyer has been able to wrestle defensive end Joey Bosa (Alabama, Florida), running back Ezekiel Elliott (Missouri), cornerback Eli Apple (Alabama), safety Vonn Bell (Alabama, Tennessee), H-back Dontre Wilson (Texas A&M), running back Curtis Samuel (Florida, Tennessee) and linebacker Raekwon McMillan (Alabama, Georgia) away from the grasp of the SEC, while also keeping Ohioans Jalin Marshall (Tennessee) and Erick Smith (Alabama) away from the pull of America's best conference.

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Meyer has done extremely well to build Ohio State into a national powerhouse again, but the Buckeyes might not be No. 1 just yet.

Cardale Jones looked great against Wisconsin, but he's still a third-string quarterback who's made one career college start. In his second start, he'll play the best team in the country in a national semifinal. That's a ton of pressure on an inexperienced quarterback.

Of course, Ohio State could benefit from the element of surprise. Alabama head coach Nick Saban said he has to plan for any number of looks from the Buckeyes offense, per ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg:

There's also the question as to whether Ezekiel Elliott can continue his strong run of form against an Alabama defense that ranks second in the country in rushing yards allowed (88.7 YPG). According to ESPN.com's Jungkyu Lee, the Tide are the only FBS team that hasn't allowed an opposing running back to run for more than 90 yards, while they've given up just 34 runs of 10 yards or more, first in the country.

As if that's not enough for Meyer to worry about, there's also quite possibly the most balanced offense in the country on the other side of the field, one that's improved since Lane Kiffin's arrival.

Alabama's the top seed in the country for a reason. The Crimson Tide are the best team from top to bottom on both sides of the ball, and it's never a good idea to bet against Saban in a big game.

An Ohio State upset wouldn't be all that surprising, but Alabama should edge out a close win.

Prediction: Alabama 30, Ohio State 24

Rose Bowl

No. 2 Oregon (-9.5) vs. No. 3 Florida State

Sooner or later, starting games slowly is bound to bite a team in the rear end. Florida State generally takes at least 15-20 minutes to really get going, but after a poor first quarter, Oregon could have already built an unassailable lead.

With that said, the Seminoles didn't win 29 games in a row by accident. Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich isn't going to downplay a winning streak like that, per Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat:

It's crazy to think that the only unbeaten FBS team in the country would be an underdog in the playoff, but that's exactly the case for the 'Noles. As a result, you can count on FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher using that slight as the proverbial "bulletin-board material":

In a way, many of the criticisms toward Florida State were said about Ohio State in 2002. How may discounted the Buckeyes for their close victories and penchant for winning games ugly?

But if the 'Noles start the Rose Bowl like they did against Florida, Miami and Louisville, they'll be dead in the water. Oregon's averaging 46.3 points a game, and the Ducks don't slow down in the second half. According to TeamRankings.com, they're third in second-half scoring.

Florida State will also be in a lot of trouble if it can't get pressure on Marcus Mariota. When the Ducks went through their rough patch around the end of September through early October, much of the problems stemmed from an inability to protect Mariota.

The more time he has in the pocket, the more comfortable he becomes. Mariota can pick apart an opposing defense when he's not under fire on every down. The more successful Mariota is, the more Royce Freeman and the Oregon running game can attack the FSU defense.

The Ducks will get a boost in the form of center Hroniss Grasu, who missed the last couple of months. In what is a sign of his immense talent, Grasu was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy despite his injury:

With Grasu on the line, Florida State defensive tackle Eddie Goldman won't be able to manhandle the Ducks offensive line.

Another red flag for the Seminoles is their inability to constantly harass the quarterback. Sacks aren't the perfect indicator for a team's pass rush, but ranking 107th in the nation in QB sacks is a worry when trying to stop somebody like Mariota.

If FSU isn't getting constant pressure on him, then Oregon can dictate the pace and turn the game in its favor.

The Ducks will likely run out to a big lead in the first or second quarter. Fisher will make his halftime adjustments, but it will be too little too late for the Seminoles.

Prediction: Oregon 38, Florida State 34

Note: Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl opening lines are courtesy of OddsShark.com.