College Football Playoff 2015: Latest Championship Predictions After Week 14

The College Football Playoff field is all but set.

We avoided chaos Saturday night. The Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide both won their respective conference tournaments and punched their tickets to the Final Four, joining the Oklahoma Sooners and the Michigan State Spartans with the national championship on the line.

Barring any absurd changes, that's the field come Dec. 31. With just over three weeks until the games happen, here are some predictions and more for the CFP.

Semifinal Matchup	Matchup	Winner
National Championship	Matchup	Winner
Cotton Bowl	No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Michigan State	Michigan State
Orange Bowl	No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Oklahoma	Clemson
College Football Playoff Title	No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 3 Michigan State	Clemson

Clemson Is the Favorite Until Otherwise

The Tigers took care of business, despite experiencing a second-half scare, with a 45-37 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC Championship Game.

Clemson is going into the Final Four with a 13-0 record and playing the most consistent football out of any other potential CFP team.

That's why Clemson, who should go into the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed, is the favorite until further notice.

And if anyone doubted whether Deshaun Watson could put on one more Heisman-worthy performance, he silenced those doubts against the 10th-best defense in the country. Watson threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns in the win, and Andrea Adelson of ESPN.com thought he was the difference-maker:

"

What more can you say about Watson? He has been outstanding over the past five games, when his team needed him the most, averaging over 400 yards of total offense. He had 411 yards against the Tar Heels, including a career-high 131 yards rushing. And the sophomore remained unbeaten in his career when he starts and finishes a game.

"

Clemson came into the ACC title game as the unofficial road team, going into Charlotte and facing the crowd-favored Tar Heels. Watson not only had an efficient passing night but also ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. He offers just as much value to Clemson, if not more, than what Derrick Henry provides for Alabama. 

The Tigers go into the playoff as the only undefeated FBS team. If Watson continues this play, they'll end the year as the best team in the country.

Michigan State Can Win with Offense or Defense

If the win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game proved anything about the Michigan State Spartans, it's that they can win either way.

Yes, the Hawkeyes aren't known for being a juggernaut offensively, and the 16-13 final score reflects an inept offense more than anything. But the Spartans, who needed a 22-play drive on their final possession to take the lead and win the game, showed they could match Iowa in terms of slowing the game down and playing a smashmouth style.

Michigan State proved in its win over Ohio State, and then on Saturday, that Connor Cook doesn't need to do everything to win. Holding the Buckeyes to 14 points in Columbus showed the defense is legit. Putting that 22-play drive together, while taking up nine minutes in the fourth quarter, showed that Michigan State can adapt better than any team in the country.

Bleacher Report's Bryan Fischer illustrated just how dominant the Spartans were in the second half, despite the scoreboard showing otherwise:

Cook didn't have a great game, completing only 50 percent of his passes and throwing an interception. But his game management on the final drive—completing three of three passes for 33 yards and also calling his own number on 4th-and-2 with less than two minutes to go—demonstrated the toughness and resiliency of this team.

It's not how you start in a game but how you finish, according to Fox Sports' Jon Morosi:

Trying to pick a second-best team in this field of four might be tough, but Michigan State has a great case if such an award is to be had.