News You Need to Know.

The 12-member committee seeded Alabama No. 1, Oregon No. 2, Florida State No. 3 and Ohio State No. 4. As the top seed, the Crimson Tide were entitled to home-field advantage, and so they will play Ohio State at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. This presumably suits Oregon just fine, as it will meet the Seminoles at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

The matchups will not upset ESPN, which has a 12-year, $7.3 billion deal for the playoff. Four brand-name programs from four conferences. Last year’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Jameis Winston of Florida State, versus this year’s likely Heisman-winning quarterback, Marcus Mariota of Oregon. Alabama Coach Nick Saban going up against Urban Meyer, now Ohio State’s coach but previously a Southeastern Conference rival of Saban’s when Meyer won two national titles at Florida.

The winners of the semifinals, an afternoon/evening doubleheader on Jan. 1, will play for the national championship on Jan. 12 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex.
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Baylor and TCU won't get to play for a national championship, but both teams will play in "New Year's Six" bowls.

The Bears will play No. 8 Michigan State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, while the Horned Frogs will face No. 9 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. No. 7 Mississippi State will play No. 12 Georgia Tech in the Capital One Orange Bowl. No. 20 Boise State and No. 10 Arizona will meet in the VIZIO Fiesta Bowl.

Las Vegas sports books installed Alabama and Oregon as the betting favorites. The Westgate SuperBook opened the Crimson Tide as 9.5-point favorites over Ohio State. It's the 68th straight game that Alabama has been the favorite. It's only the fifth time the Buckeyes have been an underdog under coach Urban Meyer. For his career, Meyer is 14-8 straight up as an underdog.

Oregon opened as an 8.5-point favorite over the Seminoles at the Westgate. It's the first time Florida State has been an underdog in its last 50 games, a streak that dates back to September 2011 against Clemson.