College Football Championship 2016: Semifinals Odds and Playoff Predictions

Of the 12 bowl games played, only a third have been decided by one possession.

Where in the world is the excitement?

Bowl season has been anything but a season of giving. Santa Claus was clearly not in a good mood this year. Perhaps he's waiting for the College Football Playoff semifinal matchups to happen. Good news, though: There are only five days left. Everybody party.

The games can't come soon enough. Here are your latest odds and predictions for the CFP semis, taking place in five days' time.

CFP Semifinal	Matchup	Time	TV	Total	Line
Orange Bowl	No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Clemson	4 p.m. ET	ESPN	64	OU -3.5
Cotton Bowl	No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Alabama	8 p.m. ET	ESPN	46.5	'Bama -9.5

How the Orange Bowl Will Be Won

The line for Oklahoma vs. Clemson has not changed much. Oklahoma's stance as a favorite has only ticked up half a point, which indicates the books are getting a steady dose of money coming in favor of the Tigers, but not much to swing the pendulum in their favor.

Clemson should still be favored unless told otherwise. The Tigers are ranked No. 1 for a reason. They've been the best team all year with the best quarterback in college football. Deshaun Watson will be the reason Clemson wins this game.

The Heisman race is done and over with. Watson should not have finished third in the voting. It is what it is, and now Watson will prove why he, and the Tigers, should be getting more respect in the first place.

It's clear that if Watson plays well, the Tigers are going to have a good chance at winning. Watson has done nothing but win. The numbers may look a bit outlandish, but the fact that he has accumulated 6,070 total yards and been responsible for 60 touchdowns throughout his career should not be overlooked.

Watson's season has been similar to Jameis Winston's Heisman year in 2013, in terms of numbers. After breaking it down a little further, thanks to ESPN College Football, the only thing missing would be a national championship:

This is no slight on Baker Mayfield, who is the second-best quarterback by a country mile. But until some team figures out a way to beat Clemson, why is this coming off as a foregone conclusion that Oklahoma is winning this game?

How the Cotton Bowl Will Be Won

The obvious answer would be for Michigan State to contain Derrick Henry. After all, the Spartans have held teams to less than four yards per carry all season long. If there's any team that can contain the Heisman Trophy winner, it may be Michigan State.

But Michigan State will need to score points to win because that's the name of the game. In order to do that, senior quarterback Connor Cook is going to have to play the best game of his four-year career.

Cook had a four-game stretch that included four consecutive games of 300-plus yards to go with 11 touchdowns to only two interceptions. Before that controversial loss to Nebraska, there was a large possibility that Cook could've been the top quarterback of this upcoming draft class.

There's still a chance that happens, and he would probably need a national championship to solidify his spot atop any big board. Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated provided a little more context on how the veteran Cook gives Michigan State a chance:

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None of the other quarterbacks in this year's playoff can match the exquisite big-game credentials Cook has piled up in his career to date: Two Big Ten championship game wins, plus Rose and Cotton Bowl victories, among 34 overall triumphs as a starter. His team is well aware of this track record. It is very reassuring with another klieg-lit contest—that Dec. 31 semifinal with the Crimson Tide and their stifling defense—coming soon. 

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It's unclear if Cook is coming into this game at full health, possibly dealing with shoulder issues suffered against Maryland on Nov. 14 that forced him to miss the big win over Ohio State. If he's still not at 100 percent, it could be a problem for Michigan State. But as Hamilton noted, no other quarterback in the CFP has the resume Cook has put together.

With 25 days off leading up to the Cotton Bowl, Cook should be healthy and give the Spartans a chance to win this game.