HOUSTON — The Texas Longhorns will compete for a national championship.
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff selection committee revealed the four teams that made it in. They are No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Alabama. That means Florida State becomes the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the four-team field.
The final season of the four-team playoff before it expands to 12 next year presented the CFP selection committee with its toughest decision in the 10-year history of the postseason system.
The Seminoles (13-0) lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks ago, but continued to win with a backup and then a third-string quarterback. But the committee is instructed to judge the teams for what they are heading into the playoff and decided FSU without Travis was not among the best four in the country.
Michigan will face Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Texas will play Washington in the Sugar Bowl in the Jan. 1 CFP semifinals. The national championship will be decided Jan. 8 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
This will be the sixth all-time meeting between Washington and Texas, and fourth straight in a bowl. The semifinal will be a bowl rematch of quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and Quinn Ewers of Texas. Washington held off a late rally by the Longhorns to win 27-20 in the Alamo Bowl last year.
The Huskies have won eight of their last nine games by single digits, including the last four in a row by a total of 15 points. They're in the playoff for the second time. The Huskies lost 24-7 to Alabama in the 2016 semifinal at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Texas' only loss this season was 34-30 to Oklahoma in October. The Longhorns are in the playoff for the first time on the strength of a 34-24 regular-season win at Alabama and a dominating performance in the Big 12 title game.
How does the selection process work?
There are 13 members of the College Football Playoff selection committee. They consider a range of criteria when determining the four teams that will be in the playoff and the New Year's Six bowls. We have a breakdown of who those committee members are and how they select the playoff teams here.