College Football Playoff 2016: Full TV Schedule and Odds for Semifinals

While the bowl schedule following the regular season serves as a welcome tradition for pigskin-starved fans, it is merely an appetizer for the College Football Playoff.

The entire 2016 season has led up to New Year's Eve, and Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington will put their national title hopes on the line in two highly anticipated semifinal showdowns. The winners will have just one game standing between them and the eternal fame that comes with being a champion, especially at a football-powerhouse university.

With that in mind, here is a look at the full schedule and odds for the CFP semifinals pitting Alabama against Washington and Clemson against Ohio State.

The point spreads are courtesy of OddsShark and current as of Dec. 26, 12 p.m. ET.

Game	Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	TV	Point Spread
Peach Bowl	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Washington	Saturday, Dec. 31	3 p.m.	ESPN	ALA -14.5
Fiesta Bowl	No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State	Saturday, Dec. 31	7 p.m.	ESPN	OSU -3.5

Predictions

Peach Bowl: Alabama vs. Washington

Washington won the Pac-12 title and reached the CFP as one of the top-four teams in the country, but it is nearly impossible to look at this game and see anything but a David vs. Goliath situation.

Alabama is the defending national champion and the only playoff team that didn't suffer a loss this season. What's more, just one of its 13 wins came by single digits, while eight of them came by more than 25 points. The Crimson Tide also destroyed USC—the one team to beat Washington this season—52-6 in the season opener.

Alabama is the overwhelming favorite, but Washington turned in impressive performances during wins against Stanford, Utah, Washington State and Colorado. It also has a quarterback in Jake Browning who doesn't turn the ball over (42 touchdown passes to seven interceptions), which is key against Alabama's defense.

If Browning can connect with John Ross (1,122 receiving yards and 17 touchdown catches) on a deep ball early in the game, it will open up the rushing attack for Myles Gaskin (1,339 rushing yards) and Lavon Coleman (836 rushing yards).

The Huskies must also thrive on the defensive side, and Robby Kalland of CBS Sports noted "they have to turn Alabama and hold onto the ball themselves, something the Huskies have been fantastic at this season; they lead the nation in turnover margin."

While that all sounds ideal on paper, Alabama is a different beast. Washington also failed to win the turnover battle in its loss to USC (each team had two) and will have to play what is essentially a road game against the Crimson Tide in Atlanta.

Alabama's defense is also the single best unit in college football and finished first in the nation in yards allowed per game, first in points allowed per game and third in sacks. Jonathan Allen and the rest of the front seven will make life miserable on Browning—much like USC did when the Trojans handed the Huskies their only loss.

The Crimson Tide offense won't have to do much, but it will gradually wear Washington out on the ground with quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Damien Harris.

Prediction: Alabama 24, Washington 13

Fiesta Bowl: Clemson vs. Ohio State

If Ohio State is going to win its second national title in three seasons, it must find a way to slow Clemson's powerful offense.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson was a Heisman Trophy finalist with 3,914 passing yards, 529 rushing yards and 43 total touchdowns. He has an elite pass-catching corps at his disposal that includes Mike Williams (1,171 receiving yards), Jordan Leggett (637 receiving yards), Deon Cain (621 receiving yards) and Artavis Scott (592 receiving yards).

Watson won't be lacking for confidence considering he said, "I'm the best player in the country," per ESPN.com (the Associated Press contributed to the report). "That's how I think. That's how I feel."

While the Buckeyes will have their hands filled keeping enough defenders in the secondary to deal with so many weapons, they will also need to keep enough of a presence in the box to stifle running back Wayne Gallman, who posted 1,002 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground this season.

It is a monumental task, but Ohio State's defense is plenty talented itself. It finished third in the nation in points allowed per game and fifth in yards allowed per game and allowed more than 20 points just four times all season, two of which came in overtime.

The secondary is sixth in the country in interceptions (as of Dec. 26) with 19 for the year and features ball-hawking safety Malik Hooker (six interceptions) and lock-down cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley. 

While it is nearly impossible to completely stop Clemson, that secondary of three likely future NFL playmakers will force a couple of critical turnovers, considering Watson's one glaring flaw this season was his career-high 15 interceptions.

That will give J.T. Barrett, Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel favorable field position against a Clemson defense that was solid but beatable (it gave up more than 30 points four times this season).

The trio will make enough plays down the stretch with that favorable field position to advance Ohio State to its second CFP National Championship Game in three years.

Prediction: Ohio State 38, Clemson 31