NCAA D1 College Football Playoff (CFP) matchups

The GIST: After a wild conference championship weekend, the College Football Playoff (CFP) matchups, along with over 40 bowl games, are officially set. Still in the natty hunt? No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Ohio State.

• Fun fact: This will be the first CFP since the format began in 2014 without either Alabama or Clemson. End of an era.

How it happened: The only remaining undefeated squads, No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan, held their CFP top spots after beating No. 14 LSU 50–30 and Purdue 43–22, respectively, to claim their conference crowns on Saturday.

• And despite suffering a 31–28 loss at the hands of Kansas State in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship, TCU kept their No. 3 spot because it was only their first loss of the year and it was a tight overtime (OT) battle to a team they’d already bested earlier this season.

• As for Ohio State, they rose from No. 5 to No. 4 when then–No. 4 USC lost the Pac-12 title 47–24 to Utah on Friday — their second loss to the Utes this season. And since the CFP is harder to get into than a Kardashian Christmas party, no two-loss team has ever been invited to the semis.

The semifinal setup: The New Year’s Six — the six top collegiate bowl games — annually rotate the CFP semifinal hosting gigs, with the Peach Bowl (Georgia vs. Ohio State) and Fiesta Bowl (Michigan vs. TCU) throwing this year’s parties ahead of the January 9th championship. Stick with us for a full preview before Christmas.