Bowl Predictions 2016: Projections and Odds for CFP Final and Top Matchups

Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Washington are the College Football Playoff participants, and the oddsmakers are backing the Crimson Tide to make it to the championship game.

Alabama will meet the Huskies in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, and the Crimson Tide opened as 14-point favorites against the Pac-12 representatives, according to OddsShark.

Ohio State will take on Clemson in the other CFP game at the Fiesta Bowl, which is also scheduled for Dec. 31. The Buckeyes opened as three-point favorites in that game, according to OddsShark.

Alabama finished the regular season with a 54-16 victory over the Florida Gators in the SEC title game, which gave the Crimson Tide a 13-0 record. Nick Saban's team has been in the No. 1 spot in the rankings since the start of the season, and it would be a shock if it doesn't get by Washington in the first round.

Bowl Game	Date	Participants	Point Spread	Prediction
Orange Bowl	Dec. 30	Florida State vs. Michigan	Michigan (-6.5)	Michigan
Peach Bowl (CFP)	Dec. 31	Alabama vs. Washington	Alabama (-14)	Alabama
Fiesta Bowl (CFP)	Dec. 31	Ohio State vs. Clemson	Ohio State (-3)	Clemson
Cotton Bowl	Jan. 2	Wisconsin vs. Western Michigan	Wisconsin (-6.5)	Western Michigan
Rose Bowl	Jan. 2	Penn State vs. USC	USC (-6.5)	USC
Sugar Bowl	Jan. 2	Oklahoma vs. Auburn	Oklahoma (-5.5)	Oklahoma

The Buckeyes and the Tigers figure to play a much tighter game than the Crimson Tide and Huskies. Head coach Dabo Swinney saw his team win the ACC Championship Game Saturday night, and he said in his postgame interview on ABC that the conference title qualified his team for the playoffs.

The Buckeyes can't say that. While they won an epic double-overtime confrontation with powerful rival Michigan on Nov. 26 at home, they did not get a chance to play for the Big Ten title because they lost a regular-season game to Penn State.

The Nittany Lions used that victory to propel themselves to first place in the Big Ten's East Division.

They followed that with a victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. The Nittany Lions trailed the Badgers by three touchdowns in the second quarter but came back to earn a 38-31 triumph.

If there was any room for criticism of the four teams selected to compete in the playoffs, it was that the Nittany Lions were left out after their dramatic win over Wisconsin.

However, Penn State will meet USC in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2. That may be the most attractive of the non-playoff bowl games.

Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin refused to criticize after his team was not given a spot in the playoffs.

"Our guys would have obviously loved to have been in the playoff, but they're also excited about the opportunity to play in a big bowl game," Franklin said during an interview on the ESPN CFP selection show Sunday afternoon (h/t Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports).

"We've had a great year—I'm really proud of our guys. Yeah, they would have loved to have been in the playoffs, but we're still very, very appreciative and honored for the opportunities that we have."

Fellow Big Ten teams Michigan and Wisconsin are also New Year's Six participants. The Wolverines will meet Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, and Wisconsin will battle unbeaten Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2.

The final New Year's Six game features Oklahoma and Auburn meeting in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2.

While Alabama has steamrolled nearly every opponent this year, the Huskies have shown that they have an impressive offense with Jake Browning at quarterback. Washington is averaging 44.5 points per game.

That unit will have to be at its best against Alabama's powerful defense. The Crimson Tide allow just 11.8 points per game and have scored 10 defensive touchdowns this season.

If Clemson is going to get the best of Ohio State, its offense will have to carry the day. Clemson averages 40.2 points per game, and quarterback Deshaun Watson leads an offense that averages more than 500 yards per game.

The Buckeyes should recover from their nail-biting win over Michigan by the time they take on the Tigers. Ohio State has a powerful running game, led by J.T. Barrett, Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel, and it also has the third-ranked scoring defense in the nation.

That will make the Buckeyes difficult to beat.