2017 College Football Playoff

The 2016 Fiesta Bowl, played on December 31, 2016, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, was a College Football Playoff semifinal and saw the No. 2 Clemson Tigers dominate the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes 31-0 in one of the most stunning shutouts in postseason history. Behind a suffocating defense and a poised performance from quarterback Deshaun Watson, Clemson punched its ticket to a second straight national title game while handing Urban Meyer the first shutout loss of his head coaching career.

The 2016 Peach Bowl, played on December 31, 2016, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, served as a College Football Playoff semifinal and featured a dominant performance by the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, who shut down the No. 4 Washington Huskies 24-7 to advance to their second straight national championship game. In what became the final college football game ever played in the Georgia Dome, Alabama’s suffocating defense and opportunistic offense overwhelmed Washington, extending the Tide’s unbeaten season and solidifying their place as the sport’s top program.

The 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, played on January 9, 2017, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, delivered one of the greatest finishes in college football history, as the No. 2 Clemson Tigers stunned the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 35-31 with a last-second touchdown. In a dramatic rematch of the previous year’s title game, Clemson avenged its 2016 loss behind the heroic play of quarterback Deshaun Watson, who engineered a game-winning drive for the ages and ended Alabama’s quest for back-to-back titles.