Bowl Games 2020-21: Full Schedule and Predictions for College Football Playoff

The seventh iteration of the College Football Playoff features four familiar programs. 

The Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers are both making their sixth appearances, and they could be on a collision course for their fourth playoff final meeting. 

Standing in the way of that potential showdown are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Ohio State Buckeyes, who have a single national semifinal win between them from the Buckeyes' title-winning season that started the playoff era. 

Alabama and Clemson looked dominant in their final playoff tune-ups on conference championship weekend, and if their opponents do not improve on their mistakes from December 19, the SEC-ACC clash could be set up in the January 11 National Championship.

College Football Playoff Schedule

Friday, January 1

Rose Bowl: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Notre Dame (4 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Predictions

Alabama 52, Notre Dame 17

The main question going into the Rose Bowl is how many points will Alabama win by.

Nick Saban's program has outclassed every challenger that has come in front of it this season, and it has a 4-0 record against ranked opposition. 

Since returning from a two-week layoff to start November, the Crimson Tide reeled off four double-digit victories, held two opponents to three points and produced 50 points in three straight games. 

If you go further back on their schedule, the Crimson Tide produced at least 40 points in all but one of their 11 games. 

None of Alabama's opponents have been able to stop the offensive trio of Mac Jones, Najee Harris and DeVonta Smith. Jones and Smith are Heisman Trophy finalists, and Harris finished fifth in the award voting. 

Notre Dame is coming off an ACC Championship Game loss to Clemson in which it failed to contain the Tigers' top three offensive stars. 

The Fighting Irish conceded 34 points and allowed Trevor Lawrence to throw for over 300 yards, Travis Etienne to run for more than 100 yards and Amari Rodgers to eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark. 

Alabama has the potential to inflict much more pain on the Notre Dame defense with its offensive triumvirate that could put up the fourth 50-point score in the national semifinal round. 

The Crimson Tide also have a history of easily beating their semifinal opponent. All four of their semifinal victories, including one over Clemson, have been by double digits. 

Notre Dame could make life hard on Alabama if the Ian Book-led offense matches the SEC champion score for score, but it was unable to deliver such an impact in its second meeting with Clemson. 

Clemson 34, Ohio State 23

The Sugar Bowl should be the closer of the two semifinals. 

A year ago, Clemson and Ohio State played in one of the few final four clashes to be decided by a single-digit margin. 

In the playoff's six years, three semifinals have been decided by seven points or less. Ohio State has been involved in two of those games. The Buckeyes beat Alabama by a touchdown to advance to the 2015 National Championship.

The Big Ten champion can stay within a score of Clemson by keeping the ball out of Lawrence's hands for long stretches.

In its win over the Northwestern Wildcats, Ohio State called on running back Trey Sermon to do the heavy lifting on offense. Sermon finished with 331 rushing yards. 

If the Buckeyes put together a few long drives dictated by the run, they could keep Clemson from rattling off scoring drives. 

Ryan Day's side had the halftime lead at the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, but Clemson made some adjustments and took control in the second half. 

However, a second-half surge may not be needed out of Clemson if it continues to dominate the first half. It scored 24 of its 34 points in the ACC Championship Game before halftime.

Since Lawrence returned to the field on November 28, 79 of the Tigers' 131 points have come before halftime.

If Clemson strikes early again, it could create enough separation to take a few more risks at the start of the second half, whether it be through a long passing attempt from Lawrence or putting more pressure on Fields with blitzes. 

Clemson has not scored at the level of Alabama, so its winning margin could be a bit smaller. The Tigers have two 50-point performances while the Crimson Tide have three in the last three games. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com