CFP semifinals: Alabama gets Washington, Clemson faces Ohio State

The College Football Playoff is locked, loaded, and ready to go. The selection committee announced the four teams that'll partake in this season's CFP semifinals:

Peach Bowl: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Washington

The loudest criticism against Washington this year was that it played a soft schedule. That'll no longer be an issue, as Chris Petersen's Huskies will face the undefeated, reigning NCAA champions in top-seeded Alabama at the Peach Bowl.

The two programs have met four times in the past, but not once since 1986. The Crimson Tide have taken all four prior decisions.

Not that any team matches up particularly well with Alabama, but Washington could be in for a long day if Jake Browning doesn't rebound from his woeful performance in the Pac-12 title game. The Huskies have leaned on their rushing attack all season, but Myles Gaskin and his offensive line will be in tough against the nation's top rushing defense, which conceded a grand total of zero yards in the SEC title game against Florida.

Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State

A matchup that should lead to mass salivation across the country, Clemson and Ohio State will battle at the Fiesta Bowl. The Tigers are looking to get back to the national championship game, where they lost last season, while the Buckeyes will enter as the lone playoff team that didn't win its conference.

It wasn't all that long ago that Dabo Swinney and Urban Meyer stood across the field from one another, as Clemson and Ohio State met in the 2014 Orange Bowl, a contest Swinney's program won. Neither team looks all that similar this time around, though.

This game will feature two of the nation's very best quarterbacks, as Clemson's Deshaun Watson and Ohio State's J.T. Barrett will go toe-to-toe for the first time.