LOCATION: Montgomery, Alabama

TOP PLAYERS

Arkansas State: QB Jaylen Raynor, the Sun Belt freshman of the year, has 2,293 yards passing, 15 touchdowns, six interceptions, five rushing TDs.

Northern Illinois: RB Antario Brown, first-team All-MAC, has 1,164 yards, 10 touchdowns, 6.2 yards per carry.

NOTABLE

Arkansas State: Bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. Rebounded after getting outscored 110-3 in the first two games against Oklahoma and Memphis. Set Sun Belt record with 77 points in a win over Texas State on Nov. 18.

Northern Illinois: Opened with 27-24 overtime win over Boston College, then lost its next four. Has won five of its last seven games. Ranks sixth nationally in pass defense, allowing 163.9 yards per game.

LAST TIME

Northern Illinois 38, Arkansas State 20 in GoDaddy.com Bowl (Jan. 8, 2012).

BOWL HISTORY

Arkansas State: Is 8-8-1 in bowl games and making the third appearance in the Camellia Bowl (1-1).

Northern Illinois: Making 15th bowl trip (4-10) and 12th since 2008. First appearance in the Camellia Bowl.

After all, that format will have plenty of at-large bids to sort out, and as a result even more teams could have arguments to get into the final 12 spots.

How would a 12-team playoff have looked with the full final College Football Playoff ranking guiding the way?

For those who aren’t familiar with the structure that will go into place next season, currently the top-six conference champions will automatically get berths in the playoff, along with six at-large bids to the highest ranked non-conference winners.

The first round will feature the teams seeded fifth through eight hosting games, with the top-four teams all receiving byes in the playoff.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will all take place in bowl games, while the championship will continue to be a stand-along game.

Here is how the playoff would have shaken out in 2023:

Bye Weeks –

Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama all would have earned byes into the quarterfinal round. According to the CFP’s rules, the four teams will get to choose the bowl game they will play in, with Michigan getting the first choice as the top-seed.

The First Round Matchups –

Florida State, who was kept out of the playoff this year despite winning the ACC with a 13-0 record, would have taken on Liberty, the undefeated winners of Conference USA.

The winner of that game would then have taken on Alabama.

Georgia would have also earned a home game, taking on No. 11 Ole Miss. The winner of that game would then have taken on Texas in the quarterfinals.

Ohio State would also have gotten a rematch in Columbus, welcoming No. 10 Penn State. The winner of the game would then have taken on Washington in the quarterfinals.

Finally, Oregon would have gotten a home game in the first round, taking on Missouri in a big matchup at Autzen Stadium.

The winner of that game would take on Michigan in the quarterfinals.

And the No. 1 Wolverines got a daunting matchup for the 110th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All.

Top-seeded Michigan will face Southeastern Conference champion Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal to be played as the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1.

The CFP committee announced the lineup for the final four-team playoff Sunday, and the unbeaten Wolverines (13-0) — who got to choose their semifinal destination as the No. 1 seed — booked another bowl appearance in the Southern California sun against the Crimson Tide (12-1).

Jim Harbaugh’s team is finally making its long-anticipated return to Pasadena, which has been Michigan’s home for so many New Year’s Days in the past. The Wolverines will be playing in their 21st Rose Bowl, more than any school except USC, but Michigan hasn’t been to the archetypal bowl game since 2007.

“It’s going to take all those days, all those hours, all those minutes,” Harbaugh told ESPN. “We played Alabama before. Haven’t beaten them. We know it’s going to take our best. We’re going to have to play really good, but before that, we’re going to have to plan. We’re going to have to practice and get in a position to execute against really good football teams.”

Michigan’s fans hope the Rose Bowl berth is the penultimate step in a tumultuous season featuring incredible play, but also two suspensions for Harbaugh. The Wolverines haven’t faltered amid the chaos, even ascending to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time in 26 seasons earlier Sunday after shutting out Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.

Michigan is in the CFP for the third time, looking for its first victory. The Wolverines are two wins away from their first national title since 1997.

But Michigan drew a formidable foe in the fourth-seeded Crimson Tide, which is coming off a spectacular upset victory over No. 1 Georgia in the SEC title game on Saturday. Alabama returned to the CFP and earned its eighth appearance in the Rose Bowl by ending the Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said he had a long Saturday night while hoping his Tide would earn a spot in college football’s final four.

“I didn’t sleep a lot, because there’s a lot of good teams out there,” Saban told ESPN. “It’s unfortunate that some good team had to get left out, but I really think our team earned the right to be here.”

The Crimson Tide played in the COVID-19 version of the Granddaddy just three years ago, routing Notre Dame 31-14 in a CFP semifinal “Rose Bowl” game played in Arlington, Texas, because of California’s safety restrictions. Alabama has been to the Rose Bowl more times than any school not in the Big Ten or the Pac-12.

Alabama’s previous Rose Bowl Game appearance was in 1946, although Saban’s Crimson Tide also won the national championship at the Rose Bowl in January 2010 when they beat Texas in the BCS title game.

Alabama is led by a top-notch defense and by quarterback Jalen Milroe, who has settled into the starting job. He passed for 192 yards and two touchdowns without an interception while beating Georgia.

“He’s got it,” Harbaugh said of Milroe. “He’s got that ‘it’ factor. Surrounded by a lot of really superior athletes that are really well-coached and know what they’re doing. That’s a vital, critical combination.”

Alabama is in the CFP for the eighth time in its 10 years of existence. After missing out on the playoff last season and then losing to the Longhorns in the second game of this season, the Tide reverted to their peerless form and reeled off 11 consecutive victories, capped by their 27-24 victory over two-time defending national champion Georgia on Saturday.

The national championship game will be played Jan. 8 in Houston.

Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama were selected Sunday and Florida State became the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the field.

Michigan will face Alabama in the Rose Bowl, Washington will play Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 and the winners will meet for the national championship Jan. 8 in Houston.

Before the CFP grows to 12 next year — an expansion that was delayed by a year because of infighting among the conference commissioners who manage the postseason system — the selection committee faced the toughest decision in the 10-year history of the format.

“Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” explained Boo Corrigan, the selection committee chairman who is also the athletic director at North Carolina State, Florida State’s Atlantic Coast Conference rival.

The Seminoles (13-0) lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks ago, but continued to win with a backup and then a third-string quarterback. The committee, though, is instructed to judge teams for what they are heading into the playoff and decided FSU without Travis is not among the best four in the country.

“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games. What is the point of playing games?” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said.

He added: “What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.”

Travis is a sixth-year player whose development into one of the best quarterbacks in college football has fueled Florida State’s resurgence over the last three years.

“Devastated. heartbroken,” Travis posted on the social media platform X. “I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry.”

Whichever team was left out had a good argument to get in. That created unprecedented controversy and the committee passed over FSU to pick Alabama, which upset Georgia to win the Southeastern Conference championship, and Big 12 champion Texas, which beat the Crimson Tide on the road in September.

The SEC had never missed the playoff. Alabama, which is in for the eighth time, kept that streak alive. The Crimson Tide have won the playoff three times, most recently in 2020.

Texas would have been just the second Power Five conference champion with only one loss to be left out. Instead, the Longhorns will be making their first appearance in the CFP in their last season as a member of the Big 12. Texas moves to the SEC next year.

Texas and Alabama were ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the committee’s penultimate rankings and are now the first teams to jump from outside the top six in the second-to-last rankings into the playoff field. Georgia became the first team to enter championship weekend No. 1 and fail to make the field.

“We’ve never had a year with eight teams at the top as good as these are. And the five conference champions (ranked) one through five, we’ve never had it come out that way,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock said. “My feeling is it probably was the toughest (decision ever for the committee).”

Big Ten champion Michigan is making its third straight appearance in the CFP, still looking for its first playoff victory. The Wolverines, who have stayed unbeaten amid an NCAA investigation into allegations of in-person scouting and sign-stealing, are the favorites to win the national title, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Michigan, looking for its first national title since 1997, opened as a 1 1/2-point favorite against Alabama. The Tide have won six national titles under coach Nick Saban.

“We’re not going to go in there saying, ‘Oh, this is Alabama, a team that’s won and won and won and won and won. No. We’re that team,” Michigan running back Blake Corum told reporters.

Washington is in the CFP for the second time, breaking the Pac-12’s playoff drought after six years, and doing so the year before it leaves the conference for the Big Ten. The Huskies opened as a 4 1/2-point underdog to Texas and former Washington coach Steve Sarkisian. The two played last season in the Alamo Bowl and Washington won.

Georgia’s slim hopes of trying for a third consecutive national title also came to an end. The Bulldogs (12-1) had a 29-game winning streak snapped by the Crimson Tide, but leaving them out of the CFP didn’t seem nearly as controversial as snubbing the Seminoles — even in a system ripe for criticism.

In 2014, Ohio State, playing with its third-string quarterback, vaulted over Baylor and TCU and into the playoff with a Big Ten title game blowout of Wisconsin. The Big 12 teams still haven’t gotten over it, but the Buckeyes went on to win it all. Ohio State has been on the short end a couple of times, too, winning the Big Ten in 2017 and ’18 and not getting in. But this year, the committee faced a truly vexing problem.

Florida State, which was No. 4 in the previous CFP rankings, appeared to be on the way to its second playoff appearance in mid-November when Travis suffered a serious injury in the first quarter against North Alabama and was lost for the year.

The Seminoles beat rival Florida last week with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker, who then missed the ACC championship game against Louisville with a concussion. Florida State stayed unbeaten with a strong defensive performance, but scored only one touchdown.

“To eliminate them from a chance to compete for a national championship is an unwarranted injustice that shows complete disregard and disrespect for their performance and accomplishments. It is unforgivable,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, who was among conference leaders who helped slow down the expansion process by a year after the SEC’s plan to add Texas and Oklahoma was revealed in 2021, called leaving out the ‘Noles “unfathomable.”

“Their exclusion calls into question the selection process and whether the committee’s own guidelines were followed, including the significant importance of being an undefeated Power Five conference champion,” Phillips said.

As the ACC champion, Florida State will head to the Orange Bowl for a showdown with Georgia.

“It’s unfortunate that some good team had to get left out,” Saban said on ESPN, “but I really think that our team earned the right to be here.”

Michigan will face Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington will play Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 and the winners will meet for the national championship Jan. 8 in Houston.

The final season of the four-team playoff before it expands to 12 next year presented the CFP selection committee with the toughest decision in the 10-year history of the postseason system.

“Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” said selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan, who is also the athletic director of Florida State’s Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina State.

The Seminoles (13-0) lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks ago, but continued to win with a backup and then a third-string quarterback. But the committee is instructed to judge the teams for what they are heading into the playoff and decided FSU without Travis was not among the best four in the country.

“To eliminate them from a chance to compete for a national championship is an unwarranted injustice that shows complete disregard and disrespect for their performance and accomplishments. It is unforgivable,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said.

Travis is a sixth-year player whose development into one of the best quarterbacks in college football has fueled Florida State’s resurgence over the last three years.

“Devastated. heartbroken,” Travis posted on the social media platform X. “I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry.”

Whichever team was left out had a good argument to get in. That created unprecedented controversy and the committee passed over FSU to pick Alabama, which upset Georgia to win the Southeastern Conference championship, and Big 12 champion Texas, which beat the Crimson Tide on the road in September.

The SEC had never missed the playoff. Alabama, which is in for the eighth time, kept that streak alive.

Texas would have been just the second Power Five team with only one loss to be left out. Instead, the Longhorns will be making their first appearance in the CFP in their last season as a member of the Big 12. Texas moves to the SEC next year.

Texas and Alabama were ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the committee’s penultimate rankings and are now the first teams to jump from outside the top six in the second-to-last rankings into the playoff field. Georgia became the first team to enter championship weekend No. 1 and fail to make the field.

“We had eight really good teams this year, somewhat of a unique year in the last year of the four,” Corrigan said.

Big Ten champion Michigan is making its third straight appearance in the CFP, still looking for its first playoff victory. The Wolverines, who have stayed unbeaten amid an NCAA investigation into allegations of in-person scouting and sign-stealing, are the favorites to win the national title, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Michigan opened as a 1 1/2-point favorite against Alabama.

Washington is in the CFP for the second time, breaking the Pac-12’s playoff drought after six years, and doing so the year before it leaves the conference for the Big Ten. The Huskies opened as a 4 1/2-point underdog to Texas and former Washington coach Steve Sarkisian. The two played last season in the Alamo Bowl and Washington won.

Florida State, which was No. 4 in the previous CFP rankings, appeared to be on the way to its second playoff appearance in mid-November when the trajectory of their season changed drastically. Travis suffered a serious injury in the first quarter against North Alabama and was lost for the year.

The Seminoles beat rival Florida last week with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker. Then Rodemaker missed the ACC championship against Louisville with a concussion. Florida State stayed unbeaten with a strong defensive performance, but scored only one touchdown.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, who was among conference leaders who helped slow down the expansion process by a year after the SEC’s plan to add Texas and Oklahoma was revealed in 2021, called leaving out the ‘Noles “unfathomable.”

“Their exclusion calls into question the selection process and whether the committee’s own guidelines were followed, including the significant importance of being an undefeated Power Five conference champion,” Phillips said.

Georgia’s slim hopes of trying for a third consecutive national title also came to an end. The Bulldogs (12-1) had a 29-game winning streak snapped Saturday by the Crimson Tide.

Kirby Smart’s team reached the national title game for the second straight season after defeating Ohio State in an exhilarating Peach Bowl. Georgia’s 2022 season then culminated with the College Football Playoff National Championship against TCU at SoFi Stadium, and it ended in a historic beatdown.

Georgia earned its third national title and became the first team in over a decade to successfully defend its title with a 65-7 trouncing over TCU. The Horned Frogs scored a first-quarter touchdown to make the score 10-7, but the Bulldogs proceeded to post 55 unanswered points to emphatically earn a second straight CFP crown.

Just how rare is it to win consecutive college football championships? Let’s look at the company Georgia joined last year and how many teams have won more than two straight titles:

How many college football teams have won consecutive championships?

Fourteen teams can claim back-to-back titles since the AP began naming a champion in 1936, but it’s not that simple.

While the NCAA now has a system in place to name a definitive champion, most of college football history was played without a nominal title game. There were also different voting bodies that named an annual champion, leading to multiple teams being able to claim a given year’s title.

Even the installation of the Bowl Championship Series in 1998 did not put an end to co-champions. USC claims the 2003 title despite not playing in that season’s designated title game, the Fiesta Bowl. The Trojans were one of three one-loss teams vying for a spot in the contest, but despite finishing No. 1 in the AP and coaches’ polls, LSU and Oklahoma got to duke it out. LSU won that game, but USC remained in the top spot of the AP poll at season’s end after beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Seven teams can claim to be uncontested, back-to-back college football champions, while seven others have a co-championship as part of their consecutive titles. Here are those 14 teams:

• Minnesota – 1940, 1941
• Army – 1944, 1945
• Notre Dame – 1946, 1947
• Oklahoma – 1955, 1956
• Alabama – 1964, 1965 (named co-champions both years)
• Michigan State – 1965, 1966 (named co-champions both years)
• Texas – 1969, 1970 (co-champions with two other teams in 1970)
• Nebraska – 1970, 1971 (co-champions with two other teams in 1970)
• Oklahoma – 1974, 1975 (co-champions in 1974)
• Alabama – 1978, 1979 (co-champions in 1978)
• Nebraska – 1994, 1995
• USC – 2003, 2004 (co-champions in 2003, 2004 championship vacated by NCAA)
• Alabama – 2011, 2012
• Georgia – 2021, 2022

Has a college football team ever won three straight championships?

Six teams have been named champions in three straight seasons, though no Division I college football program has three-peated in over 80 years. Minnesota was the last team to do it, winning three consecutive titles from 1934 to 1936.

Like the back-to-back champs, more than half of the back-to-back-to-back champs were aided by co-champion status. Minnesota and Yale are the only teams to win three straight, undisputed titles.

Here are the six teams that claimed titles in three consecutive years:

• Princeton – 1878, 1879, 1880 (co-champions in 1880)
• Yale – 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884 (co-champions in 1880)
• Yale – 1886, 1887, 1888
• Michigan – 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904 (co-champions in 1903 and 1904)
• California – 1920, 1921, 1922 (co-champions in 1921 and 1922)
• Minnesota – 1934, 1935, 1936