Peach Bowl 2016: Known Info Before Final Playoff Rankings Reveal

At this point, nobody (besides the selection committee) knows for sure who will be in the College Football Playoff. 

This year, all eyes will be focused on the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl to see which four teams will face off against each other in hopes of becoming the undisputed No. 1 team in the nation.  

Date	Time (ET)	Venue	City, State	National TV
Saturday, Dec. 31	3 or 7 p.m.	Georgia Dome	Atlanta, Georgia	ESPN (live sreamed on watchespn)

While nothing is guaranteed, it would be surprising if the Alabama Crimson Tide, the current No. 1 team in the nation heading into Selection Sunday, aren't placed in the Peach Bowl due to the playoff selection committee's protocol when determining which teams will play in either semifinal. 

Per CollegeFootballPlayoff.com: 

"

A. The team ranked No. 1 by the selection committee will play team No. 4 in the semifinals. Team No. 2 will meet team No. 3.

B. When assigning teams to sites, the committee will place the top two seeds at the most advantageous sites, weighing criteria such as convenience of travel for its fans, home-crowd advantage or disadvantage and general familiarity with the host city and its stadium. Preference will go to the No. 1 seed.

"

In this case, if Alabama (as expected) retains the top seed, they will face off against the fourth-seeded team in the Peach Bowl on New Year's Eve. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where the playoff picture really gets interesting.

On paper, it's hard to argue with FiveThirtyEight's projection. But what about those Nittany Lions from Penn State, who are currently 10-2 and just won the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday?

And if Penn State somehow does make it into the playoff picture, who gets snubbed? The Ohio State Buckeyes or the Washington Huskies?

After defeating the Michigan Wolverines in the last regular-season game of the season, the Buckeyes looked to have solidified a spot among the nation's four best teams. But not playing in the Big Ten Championship could go against OSU if the committee appreciates the value of a conference championship.

After all, Penn State was ranked No. 8 and defeated No. 6 Wisconsin, and that will look good on the Nittany Lions' resume. 

For the No. 4 Huskies, who are coming off a 41-10 victory over No. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship Game, it appears they did enough to go through with an impressive 11-1 record on the season.

They dismantled the likes of Oregon 70-21, Stanford 44-6 and California 66-27 with the lone blemish on their season coming against the USC Trojans back on Nov. 12.

The College Football Playoff Selection Show starts Sunday at noon ET on ESPN and can be live streamed on watchespn. You don't want to miss out on the chaos.