DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – No. 1 Clemson will face No. 4 Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve.
ESPN unveiled the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings Sunday, officially cementing what many already anticipated -- that Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State and Oklahoma are in.
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There was little doubt that Clemson (13-0) was South Florida-bound after defeating North Carolina on Saturday for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, but the question remained which team the Tigers would meet.
In the end, Big Ten Conference champion and third-ranked Michigan State (12-1) was paired with Southeastern Conference champion and second-ranked Alabama (12-1) in the semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, sending Oklahoma (11-1) back to Florida for a second straight bowl meeting against the Tigers.
Clemson demolished the Sooners, 40-6, in last year's Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando.
"I've been on both sides," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told reporters in a media conference call hours after the bowl pairings were announced. "We had a great day that day last year. You know, that was a very evenly matched game that just got away from Oklahoma with some turnovers and things like that."
The Tigers have held the No. 1 ranking for much of this season for the first time since winning the 1981 national championship against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Not even the Danny Ford-led Tigers of 1981 won as many games as the 2015 Clemson team, which will need to win twice more in order to hoist the national championship trophy.
That starts at Sun Life Stadium, where the Tigers defeated Ohio State, 40-35, in their last Orange Bowl appearance two seasons ago.
Clemson has defeated three ranked teams -- Notre Dame, Florida State and North Carolina -- thus far en route to its best season in school history. Led by Heisman Memorial Trophy candidate and ACC player of the year Deshaun Watson, the sophomore quarterback has thrown for 3,512 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for another 887 yards and 11 touchdowns.
"He'll be a challenge to get ready for," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said.
Watson was injured during last year's bowl game, so the Sooners have yet to face the ACC's top passer and top rusher among quarterbacks. Stoops admitted that his team may be more motivated to win after last year's poor showing, and winning against the No. 1 team in the country would be that much more vindicating.
"You find motivation in all of it," Stoops said.
Oklahoma has a Heisman candidate of its own in junior quarterback Baker Mayfield. The former walk-on has passed for 3,389 yards and 35 touchdowns against just five interceptions this season.
Mayfield will be challenged by Clemson's defense, which ranks seventh nationally. The Tigers are second in tackles for loss (108) and fifth in team sacks (38).
Oklahoma won the Big 12 Conference outright for the first time since 2010. The only blemish to Oklahoma's season was an October loss to rival Texas in Dallas. Even in the loss, Mayfield completed 20-of-28 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown.
While Clemson's place in the national championship hunt was never in doubt, Stoops said he was appreciative of the opportunity that his team might not otherwise have had under the former Bowl Championship Series system.
"I think we're headed in a positive direction," Stoops said, adding that he believes in the bowl system and doesn't want to see them diminished by an expanded playoff field.
Oklahoma's ground game is led by running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, who have combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns. Oklahoma's defense also ranks seventh nationally in interceptions (19). Watson has been intercepted 11 times this season.
"All these teams are capable of winning on any given day, and that's why we're in the final four," Swinney said.
That's also why he's thankful to have a player like Watson on his team.
"Great players are at their best in crunch time and you rise to the occasion, and that's what he's done all year long for this team," Swinney said.
Perhaps the biggest surprise with the College Football Playoff announcements was the order of the top four teams. Oklahoma, which had been No. 3 in the penultimate selection committee rankings, dropped a spot to No. 4, eliminating a bowl rematch with Alabama. The Sooners defeated the Crimson Tide, 45-31, in the 2014 Sugar Bowl.
"I could care less about (being ranked) 3 or 4," Stoops said. "If you're good enough to win, you're gonna have to play, you know, the next best team that won the next game, so you're not avoiding anybody once you get in this situation."
In the second season of the College Football Playoff, an ACC school is among the top four as the nation's only undefeated team. Florida State was ranked third in last year's playoff, losing to Oregon in a semifinal game at the Rose Bowl.
Clemson will be the first ACC champion to appear in the Orange Bowl -- the ACC champion's traditional home -- since the 2012 season. The Tigers replaced eventual national champion Florida State as the ACC representative in the final season of the BCS, while Georgia Tech took Florida State's spot last season after the Seminoles qualified for the inaugural playoff.
The Tigers currently own the nation's longest winning streak at 16 games, but Swinney knows how difficult of a task it can be to remain unscathed, especially against this level of competition. It's something he has stressed to his players as they prepare for Oklahoma.
"You know, last week's plays don't win this weekend and last year's success doesn't win this year," Swinney said. "You know, this is a new team. They're a new team. We've had a great season. They’ve had a great season. This will be two final-four teams playing high-level football. It'll come down to a few plays."