College Football Championship 2017: Semifinals Odds and Playoff Predictions

The College Football Playoff has been set for weeks now, but there's still plenty of time left to dissect the two highly anticipated semifinal matchups that will get underway on New Year's Eve. 

The first showdown will pit the No. 1-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide against the No. 4-seeded Washington Huskies in the Peach Bowl, while the second half of the holiday doubleheader will feature the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 3 Clemson Tigers. 

But before we break down the CFP semifinals in full, here's a look at the latest odds, courtesy of OddsShark.com, to give you a preliminary look at how the semifinalists stack up:

Matchup	Line
Peach Bowl: Washington vs. Alabama	Alabama -14.5
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Clemson	Ohio State -3

Peach Bowl: Washington vs. Alabama

The Crimson Tide are the lone unbeaten represented in the CFP, and their status as the nation's top team all season long has made them sizable favorites to advance to the national championship game for the second year in a row. 

Not only did the Crimson Tide rank first in the nation in scoring defense (11.8 points per game), but they churned out a 10th-ranked 41.3 points per game during a regular-season campaign that saw them blitz SEC competition with remarkable ease. 

"I know about their offense and I know about their defense," Washington head coach Chris Petersen said, according to the Associated Press' Paul Newberry. "Then I put on their special teams, and I got more depressed. They've got really good players and they don't give you anything."

That said, it's not all doom and gloom for the Huskies. 

Washington is averaging a third-ranked 44.8 points per game thanks to quarterback Jake Browning, wide receiver John Ross and running back Myles Gaskin, and a 41-10 thrashing of the Colorado Buffaloes' vaunted defense in the Pac-12 title game proved what the Huskies are capable of when they're firing on all cylinders. 

However, Washington will need to establish the run early and often if it hopes to have a prayer against the Crimson Tide's daunting front seven. 

"It’s one of the best front sevens we have seen recently in the sport, and we saw this U-Dub offensive line struggle in the loss to USC," Campus Insiders' Dave Miller wrote. "The Huskies were held to 17 yards on the ground, while Browning struggled and was batted around. The Trojans have a good defensive front, but Alabama’s is great."

If the Huskies can't establish a clear rhythm early and grind out sustained drives, Browning will be forced to drop back and sling the ball to try and get his team in it. And as we've seen all season, that's not a winning formula against a Crimson Tide defense that can turn a single mistake into seven points in a matter of seconds. 

Prediction: Alabama 34, Washington 20

Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Clemson

If you're looking for CFP drama, the Buckeyes and Tigers should provide plenty in the evening's second semifinal. 

Clemson quarterback and Heisman finalist Deshaun Watson will square off against Ohio State signal-caller J.T. Barrett in an epic clash, and the result may very well come down to how well Barrett handles pressure, according to Pro Football Focus' Josh Liskiewitz: 

"

With a clean pocket, he completed 66.9 percent of his passes, throwing for 21 touchdowns to just three interceptions. When he was pressured (on about 32.3 percent of his drop-backs), his completion percentage dropped to 46.8 percent, his yards per attempt went from 7.7 to 4.9, he threw just three touchdowns to one interception while taking 24 sacks, and his QB rating plummeted from 112.7 to 67.9.

"

Matched up against a Clemson defense that logged a fifth-ranked 3.4 sacks per game and logged FBS' No. 7 overall sack percentage (9.45), Barrett could be in trouble if he can't evade the rush and extend plays outside of the pocket. 

The Tigers will counter with Watson, who is humming after finishing the regular season with 14 total touchdowns and two interceptions over his last three games. 

Plus, Watson has valuable playoff experience under his belt and could use his legs to fluster an Ohio State defense a year after he helped the Tigers capture a semifinal win over the Oklahoma Sooners and a near-upset of the Crimson Tide in the national title game. 

As Sports Illustrated's Brian Hamilton wrote, "Watson has the improvisational skill to counter the athleticism or sophistication of any defense; he proved that, if you recall, by scorching Alabama for 478 total yards and four touchdowns in last year’s championship game loss."

The Buckeyes are armed with enough talent to push Clemson until the final horn, but Watson's experience on the big stage coupled with the physicality of the all-feared front should thrust the Tigers back into the championship game for the second year in a row.  

Prediction: Clemson 31, Ohio State 27