College Football Playoff National Championship Game Details
If there is one thing every college football fan wants, it is for the true champion to be crowned at the end of the year. Just having the polls select who deserved to be No. 1 wasn’t good enough. At first, it appeared as if the BCS Championship Game would do the trick. But it was quickly deemed flawed and in need of revision.
It took a few years, but the NCAA finally decided to give the fans and critics what they had been asking for— a playoff system. The participants would be chosen by a special CFP committee. They would play in the two semifinal games. The New Year’s Day bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl, would take turns hosting the semifinals.
The winners would meet for the College Football Playoff National Championship game at a neutral site (chosen from bids) where an undisputed champion could be crowned.
Ohio State and Oregon faced off in the first College Football Playoff National Championship game on January 12, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Buckeyes won easily, 42-20. Alabama and Clemson played in the other two. Alabama won their first matchup in 2016 (at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona), 45-40.
But Clemson pulled out the win last season (at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida), 35-31.
The host sites for the next three games have already been selected. This coming season will see the game played at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2019 game will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. In 2020, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, will host.
This season, Alabama is expected to make it back again (3/1). After getting shut out in the semifinals last season by the eventual winner, the odds favor Ohio State as well (8/1). The odds for Florida State are 7/1. For USC 8/1, and for the defending national champions, Clemson, 18/1.