College Football Playoff 2020: Semifinal matchups, rankings, key dates, TV listings and analysis

In a season unlike any other, there's still some familiarity in the College Football Playoff, as Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State return to the semifinals. Here are the top six teams, which were announced Sunday.

• 1. Alabama (11-0)

• 2. Clemson (10-1)

• 3. Ohio State (6-0)

• 4. Notre Dame (10-1)

• 5. Texas A&M (8-1)

• 6. Oklahoma (8-2)

• Complete College Football Rankings (as of Dec. 20)

Semifinal matchups: How to watch, what to know

No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One
When: Friday, Jan. 1, 2021 (4 p.m. ET)
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
How to watch: ESPN & ESPN App
Opening line from Caesars Sportsbook: Alabama -17.5

Breakdown: Two of college football's traditional blue bloods will battle in New Orleans on New Year's Day with a trip to the CFP National Championship on the line. Hopefully, it's more competitive than the last time the teams met in 2012. Alabama and Notre Dame are built similarly, albeit with the Crimson Tide holding a decided edge in overall talent. The teams have the two best offensive lines in college football, as well as two of the best front sevens on the other side of the ball.

• Read Mark Schlabach's full Alabama-Notre Dame preview

No. 2 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
When: Friday, Jan. 1, 2021 (8 p.m. ET)
Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
How to watch: ESPN & ESPN App
Opening line from Caesars Sportsbook: Clemson (-6.5)

Breakdown: In last season's CFP semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Clemson rallied from a 16-0 deficit and won 29-23 on quarterback Trevor Lawrence's 34-yard touchdown pass to Travis Etienne with 1:49 to go. The Buckeyes still had a chance to win, but safety Nolan Turner intercepted Justin Fields' pass in the end zone with 37 seconds left. Ohio State's Chris Olave admitted after the game that he broke off the route, believing Fields was going to scramble. It was OSU's first loss under coach Ryan Day.

• Read Mark Schlabach's full Clemson-Ohio State preview

Key questions

ESPN's Heather Dinich breaks down a few important questions related to the committee's decision:

How does the committee select its four teams?

The protocol for ranking the teams has not changed. As it is written in the protocol, "the committee's task will be to select the best teams." The committee watches games, assesses every team, and has every relevant statistic at its disposal. The group will continue to use factors such as wins against top-25 teams, wins against teams with winning records, and what they have seen on film. If teams are comparable, the selection committee uses several factors as tiebreakers: championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results if they occurred, and comparative outcomes of common opponents.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the process?

There is no minimum game requirement to be eligible for the CFP, but the number of games will ultimately be a factor in the discussion. According to the CFP, "Wins by each team is certainly important in weighing its ranking, but it is not the only factor." The more games played, the more chances a team has to prove itself to the committee. Because there are so many unbalanced résumés, committee chair Gary Barta has said that the eye test will play a bigger role than ever this year.

The committee will also take into consideration players and coaches who have missed games because of isolation or quarantine, but it will be handled the same way availability has been addressed in the past. If a key player misses a game, the committee will know and consider whether the absence affected the on-field performance.

CFP committee members