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Since October 28, only one true ranking has existed on the march to determining college football's champion, and that has been the ranking of the college football playoff committee, a group of 12 individuals with a near-difficult task. In the initial rankings, Mississippi State grabbed the No. 1 spot, but two late season losses knocked the Bulldogs out of the playoff. Had the season ended that day, the Bulldogs would have matched up with the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels in the Sugar Bowl, while No. 3 Auburn would have faced No. 2 Florida State in the Rose Bowl. As the season has shifted, only one of those teams has managed to stay in a playoff spot, and even the Seminoles' grip is a bit softer than they would like.
Last week, the committee set up matchups between No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Florida State in the Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 TCU in the Rose Bowl.
The selection committee will be announcing its final decision live on ESPN Sunday at 11:30 am CT. At 1:45 CT, the committee will release the entire top-25 and announce the bowl matchups for the New Year's Six Bowls.
For those wondering, the No. 1 ranked team gets to play in the more geographic advantageous destination between the Sugar and the Rose Bowl. The No. 2 ranked team gets the other. Alabama will be in the Sugar, and Oregon will be in the Rose.
As far as the other four bowl games, the Orange has a contract in place for the selection of its teams. It will take Georgia Tech from the ACC and most likely Michigan State as the highest ranked ACC/SEC non-champion available. The Fiesta, Peach, and Cotton will have their participants selected by the playoff committee.
TV: ESPN
TIME: 11:30 am CT (playoff announcement), 1:45 pm CT (New Year's Six Bowls)
ONLINE: WatchESPN