Rose Bowl 2018: TV Schedule, Matchup Predictions and Odds

The Rose Bowl is the site of the first College Football Playoff game, and it will feature the No. 2 team in the rankings taking on the No. 3 team. The game will be played on New Year's Day, and the game will kick off at 5 p.m. ET

The Sugar Bowl will follow between the top seed and the No. 4 seed. That game will get underway at 8:45 p.m.

Both semifinal games will be televised by ESPN, as will the national championship game January 8. That game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The latest CFP rankings have Clemson at the No. 1 spot, streaking Auburn at No. 2, high-powered Oklahoma at No. 3 and undefeated Wisconsin at No. 4.

If those ratings hold up, Auburn and Oklahoma will meet in the Rose Bowl.

However, the CFP committee will have a tough job on its hands when the final matchups are made Sunday. The conference championships in Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, SEC and Big Ten will be decided this weekend.

The expectations are that the ACC and SEC winners are seemingly assured of spots in college football's Top Four.

Clemson and Miami are playing for the ACC title, and the defending national champion Tigers are 9.5-point favorites, according to OddsShark. Auburn is a 2.5-point favorite over Georgia in the SEC title game, and that seems a bit light given Gus Malzahn's team beat Georgia 40-17 earlier this month.

Oklahoma is a seven-point favorite over TCU, while the 12-0 Wisconsin Badgers are 6.5-point underdogs to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

We see Clemson and Auburn coming through in the ACC and SEC, respectively, and therefore earning their spots in the CFP.

While oddsmakers like the explosive Ohio State led by quarterback J.T. Barrett (33 TD passes, nine rushing TDs), the Badgers are the tougher and more consistent team. Alex Hornibrook is a solid quarterback who is not as talented as Barrett, but the Badgers have the traditional Big Ten weapons of a strong running game and hard-hitting defense.

We also see Heisman front-runner Baker Mayfield leading the Sooners to a tough win over the TCU Horned Frogs in the Big 12 title game.

That's the good news for Oklahoma. The bad news will come on Sunday, when the CFP committee has to do the right thing and put the four best teams in the playoff.

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Does anybody really think there are four teams better than Alabama, and that Nick Saban's team doesn't belong?

The way we see it, Auburn is the best team in the country thanks to its late-season victories over Georgia and Alabama, and the Crimson Tide is the second-best team.

Give Clemson the No. 3 spot, and reward the Badgers for their undefeated season by keeping them at No. 4.

The committee needs to look at Oklahoma and realize it doesn't play enough defense to earn a spot in the Top Four. The Sooners have given up 52 points to Oklahoma State, 41 to Baylor, and 31 or more in three other games.

It will be a controversial decision, but it will also be the correct decision.

In our view, Alabama and Clemson will meet in the College Football Playoff for a third straight year. Alabama won the title-game matchup two years ago, Clemson got its revenge last year, and this meeting will take place in the semifinal at the Rose Bowl.

Alabama is led by its superb quarterback Jalen Hurts, and he has thrown for 1,940 yards this season with a notable 15-1 TD-interception ratio.

The Crimson Tide will also try to unleash a powerful running attack led by Damien Harris, Bo Scarborough and Hurts against the Tigers.

Clemson was able to get the best of the Crimson Tide last year because it had Deshaun Watson at quarterback. Kelly Bryant may not be able to match Watson as a record-setter, but he has thrown for 2,426 yards while completing 66.4 percent of his passes. Kelly has a 12-6 TD-interception ratio.

Explosive freshman running back Travis Etienne has rushed for 720 yards and has a 7.4 yards-per-carry average, while junior wideout Hunter Renfrow has 50 receptions.

Alabama and Clemson are both listed at plus-425 (bet $100 to win $425) to win the national championships, according to OddsShark.

Prediction

Neither team will be intimidated since both have played so many big games over the years and are quite familiar with each other. Alabama may have a big advantage because they will not have played in a conference title game. That's one more opportunity for players to get injured.

Hurts is a championship-level quarterback, and he will make more plays in the final quarter than Bryant, and the Crimson Tide will get the victory at the Rose Bowl and move on to the national championship game in Atlanta, Georgia.