Sugar Bowl 2021: Known Info Before Final Playoff Rankings Reveal

Alabama's quest for an undefeated season could be heading to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.

This season, the Sugar Bowl is one of two games that will be serving as a College Football Playoff semifinal. The Crimson Tide, who improved to 11-0 with a 52-46 win over Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, should be the No. 1 seed in the CFP when the field is announced by the selection committee Sunday. And as the top-ranked team, Alabama is likely going to be making the relatively short trip to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for its CFP semifinal.

However, which team will Alabama be facing? Clemson (ACC champion) and Ohio State (Big Ten champion) are likely to be the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively. That means the committee will need to choose either Notre Dame or Texas A&M to be the final team in the playoff field unless they go in a surprising direction and include a different school, such as Oklahoma (Big 12 champion) or Cincinnati (AAC champion).

Here's everything you need to know about the Sugar Bowl, followed by more on the potential matchup that could be taking place in the game.

Sugar Bowl 2021 Information

Date: Friday, Jan. 1, 2021

Time: 8:45 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: ESPN online

Notre Dame or Texas A&M?

The Fighting Irish opened the season with 10 consecutive wins. That stretch included some impressive victories, most notably a 47-40 double-overtime win over Clemson on Nov. 7 and a 31-17 win at North Carolina on Nov. 27.

However, Notre Dame couldn't beat Clemson a second time. After the Tigers' star quarterback ,Trevor Lawrence, missed the first meeting between the two teams following a positive COVID-19 test, he returned and led his team to a 34-10 victory and the ACC championship on Saturday.

Still, the Fighting Irish's only loss came against one of the best teams in the nation. And as head coach Brian Kelly pointed out Saturday, they played a more complete schedule than some teams, such as Ohio State (which is only 6-0).

"We've got two top-15 wins. We've got a win over this Clemson team that was No. 1 in the country," Kelly said, according to Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press. "I don't know that anybody has a resume that has those two wins. And we've played 11 games. ... I think that in my mind puts us without question as one of the top four teams in the country."

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher also took the time after his team's regular-season finale to point out the number of games the Aggies have played. They ended up 8-1 after notching a 34-13 victory at Tennessee on Saturday.

"Seven straight SEC wins," Fisher said, per Russo. "Some schools ain't even playing seven games. I don't care what league you're in. If you're going to pick the best four teams, we're one of them."

Although Texas A&M lost only one game, that was a 52-24 defeat at Alabama on Oct. 3. That led to the Crimson Tide winning the SEC West and the Aggies not getting a chance to play for the conference title. If Texas A&M got the No. 4 spot in the CFP field, it would get a second opportunity to take on Alabama.

It's unlikely that both Notre Dame and Texas A&M get into the CFP. Even though Ohio State has only played six games, the selection committee has already shown how it feels about the Buckeyes considering they were ranked No. 4 before the Big Ten Championship Game. After it beat Northwestern for the conference title, it wouldn't make sense to drop Ohio State now.

The most probable scenario is that the selection committee will choose Notre Dame as the No. 4 seed. Although the Fighting Irish didn't make a convincing closing statement, they have still been a top team all season and have a slightly better resume than Texas A&M's, having beaten Clemson (even if the Tigers were shorthanded) while rolling to a 10-win season.

If that's the case, Alabama and Notre Dame's Sugar Bowl matchup would be the eighth all-time meeting between the programs. Although the Fighting Irish lead the series 5-2, the only matchup after 1987 came in the BCS National Championship Game at the end of the 2012 season, which the Crimson Tide won 42-14.

Alabama has been the most dominant team in the country this season, and if Notre Dame is going to pull off an upset, it would need to play better than it did in the ACC Championship Game.