GLENDALE, Ariz. — Ohio State did not play in the Big Ten championship game a year ago and ended up in the Fiesta Bowl instead of the College Football Playoff.
The Buckeyes again missed out on the conference title game this season and are headed back to the Fiesta Bowl. This time, it’s for a spot in the national championship game.
Ohio State finished third in the final CFP rankings on Sunday and will face No. 2 Clemson in the Dec. 31 Fiesta Bowl, setting up a matchup of marquee teams with dynamic quarterbacks
Clemson (12-1) suffered what appeared to be a debilitating loss to unranked Pittsburgh on Nov. 12, but followed up with lopsided wins over Wake Forest and South Carolina.
The Tigers closed out the season with a 42-35 win over No. 18 Virginia Tech in the ACC title game and leapfrogged the Buckeyes in the final CFP standings to No. 2.
Clemson finished No. 3 in The Associated Press Top 25 , a spot behind Ohio State.
Led by dynamic quarterback Deshaun Watson, Clemson lost to Alabama in the national championship game last season in Arizona. Beat the Buckeyes in their return trip to the desert, the Tigers could get another shot at the top-ranked Crimson Tide, who play Washington in the Peach Bowl.
“To return out here to Arizona, we had a little taste of it last year and it was a quick trip, barely remember it,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’re looking forward to having a better time this year.”
“It’s great to be here,” said Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who also became a grandfather for the first time on Sunday. “We understand how hard it is to make the playoffs and we’re humbled and honored.”
The Buckeyes (11-1) lost their bid for the Big Ten title with a loss to Penn State on Oct. 22. The Nittany Lions went on to win the Big Ten title game on Saturday, rallying from 21 points down to beat No. 5 Wisconsin 38-31.
It wasn’t enough.
Ohio State’s strength of schedule, which included a loss to Oklahoma and was capped by last week’s double-overtime victory over then-No. 3 Michigan, pushed the Buckeyes past Penn State and back to the desert. Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl a year ago and is the first team in the three years of the CFP to reach the playoffs without winning its conference championship.
“I think this is going to be interesting about strength of schedule because you think of it, if Oklahoma didn’t play us, they’d be in,” Meyer said.
UNC vs. Stanford
UNC (8-4, 5-3 ACC) will face Stanford (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. The selection was announced Sunday.
After winning five of their first six conference games — and threatening for a top-15 ranking nationally — the Tar Heels fell to Duke and N.C. State to slip out of ACC title contention.
Contrarily, the Cardinal won its final five games after dropping three games early to eventual conference powers: No. 4 Washington, No. 11 Colorado and Washington State, a team on the fringe of the top 25.
Despite a potent offensive attack, UNC allowed over 225 yards rushing in both losses and couldn’t overcome its abysmal run defense. That could pose a problem against Stanford, which averages 215.6 rushing yards per game.
The Cardinal is led by dynamic running back Christian McCaffrey, a first-team All-Pac-12 honoree who won the AP Player of the Year in 2015 after setting the NCAA single-season all-purpose yardage record (3,864). This season, the junior ranks fourth in rushing yards per game (145.7) and ran for a school-record 284 yards and three touchdowns against California two weeks ago.
N.C. State vs. Vanderbilt
The Wolfpack (6-6) will face Vanderbilt (6-6) in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., on Dec. 26
It’s the third time in four bowl games N.C. State will be matched up with an SEC team. It lost to Mississippi State last year, 51-28, in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte.
N.C. State and Vanderbilt met in the 2012 Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn. That was the year N.C. State fired coach Tom O’Brien after the regular season and hired Dave Doeren.
Doeren didn’t coach in that game, a 38-24 Wolfpack loss, but he will get his turn against the Commodores, who closed the season with upset wins over Ole Miss (38-17) and Tennessee (45-34) to qualify for the game.
Overall, N.C State has lost five straight to SEC foes since beating South Carolina in 1999.
Wake Forest vs. Vanderbilt
Wake Forest will play No. 23 Temple in the Military Bowl at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium near the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy.
It will be only the 11th bowl appearance in the history of a Deacons football program that began in 1888 and the first since losing to Mississippi State in the 2011 Music City Bowl.
Wake Forest’s all-time bowl record is 6-4, including a 29-19 win in 2008 over Navy in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl — the predecessor to the Military Bowl. It underwent a name change in 2010 when Virginia-based defense contractor Northrop Grumman assumed presenting sponsorship.
The first five editions were played at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., before it was relocated in 2013 to Annapolis.
Wake Forest (6-6) won four of its first five games this season and officially became bowl-eligible by beating Virginia, 27-20, on Nov. 5 for its clinching sixth win.
The Deacons followed that, however, by finishing the regular season with three straight losses. Still they are positioned for their first winning season since 2008 after going 3-9 each of the past two years.
