After a rousing victory in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday night, LSU jumped Ohio State for the No. 1 seed in the 2019 College Football Playoff as released Sunday by the CFP Selection Committee. As such, LSU (13-0) leads the four-team that will battle for this year's national championship. Previous No. 1 Ohio State (13-0), which had taken over the top spot from LSU a couple weeks ago, moved back to No. 2 after a hard-fought win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Reigning champion Clemson (13-0) and Oklahoma (12-1) round out the top four in that order. Both teams won their respective ACC and Big 12 Championship Games on Saturday. This marks the second straight year that three undefeated teams have entered the CFP and the first time in playoff history that there are three unblemished teams who played conference title games.
No. 1 LSU will take on No. 4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl (Atlanta) with kickoff set for 4 p.m. ET, while No. 2 Ohio State gets No. 3 Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona) in the later game with a projected start time of 8 p.m.. Both games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 28 with the national championship set for Monday, Jan. 13 in New Orleans.
| Date / Time | Game / Loc. | Matchup | Prediction |
|---|---|---|---|
Jan. 13 | National Championship | Title game | Semifinal winners |
Dec. 28, 4 p.m. | Peach Bowl | Semifinal | (4) Oklahoma vs. (1) LSU |
Dec. 28, 8 p.m. | Fiesta Bowl | Semifinal | (3) Clemson vs. (2) Ohio State |
Undefeated ACC champion Clemson, which has won 28 straight games dating back to the 2017 season, is playing its fifth straight playoff, tying Alabama for the record. It is the first time that Clemson has entered the CFP as lower than a top-two seed. The Crimson Tide are not in this year's four-team field after playing in the first five playoffs.
LSU is the only first-timer in the field, though the three-time national champions are far from neophytes when it comes to being on the big stage.
Ohio State is in its third CFP despite never making consecutive appearances (2014, 2016). The Buckeyes won the first playoff 42-20 over Oregon to conclude the 2014 season but were bounced 31-0 by Clemson in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl semifinal.
Ohio State and Clemson will rematch at the same site three years later with the Buckeyes looking for revenge from that embarrassing loss.
Oklahoma has advanced to the CFP for the third straight season and fourth time overall, though the Sooners have never moved on to the championship game, losing all three of their semifinals. OU has been a No. 4 seed in three of its four playoff appearances.
The New Year's Six bowl games will be announced after 3 p.m. ET with the rest of the 2019 bowl games trickling out after that.
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