| 2016–17 College Football Playoff | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2016 |
| Dates | December 31, 2016 – January 9, 2017 |
| Teams invited |
|
| Venues | |
| Champions | Clemson(1st CFP title, 2nd overall title) |
← 2015–16 2017–18 → | |
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The2016–17 College Football Playoff was asingle-elimination postseason tournament that determined thenational champion of the2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the third edition of theCollege Football Playoff (CFP) and involved the top four teams in the country as ranked by theCollege Football Playoff poll playing in two semifinals, with the winners of each advancing to thenational championship game. Three of the four teams were conference champions: No. 1Alabama from theSoutheastern Conference, No. 2Clemson from theAtlantic Coast Conference, and No. 4Washington from thePac-12 Conference. No. 3Ohio State, from theBig Ten Conference, finished second in their division on a head-to-head tiebreaker withPenn State, who went on to win theconference championship.
The playoff bracket's semifinal games were held at thePeach Bowl andFiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve, part of the season'sslate of bowl games. In the Peach Bowl semifinal, Alabama defeated Washington, 24–7. The Fiesta Bowl semifinal saw Clemsonshutout Ohio State, 31–0. As a result of their victories, Clemson and Alabama faced each other in the national championship game, a rematch of theprevious season's championship game, held on January 9 inTampa, Florida. Clemson won the rematch by a four-point margin to claim their first championship of the CFP era and their second national championship in school history, the first since1981.
The three playoff games earned an averageNielsen rating of 12.7, with the championship scoring 15.4, a four percent upgrade from the previous edition. The playoff saw an increase in average audience and unique viewership with an average of 22.23 million viewers and a peak of 26.03 million. The championship became the eighth-most-watched cable broadcast in history and the most-viewed since the last national championship game.
| Semifinals | Championship | |||||||
| December 31 –Peach BowlGeorgia Dome,Atlanta | ||||||||
| 1 | Alabama | 24 | ||||||
| 4 | Washington | 7 | January 9 –ChampionshipRaymond James Stadium,Tampa | |||||
| 1 | Alabama | 31 | ||||||
| December 31 –Fiesta BowlUniversity of Phoenix Stadium,Glendale | 2 | Clemson | 35 | |||||
| 2 | Clemson | 31 | ||||||
| 3 | Ohio State | 0 | ||||||
The 2016–17 CFP selection committee was chaired byTexas Tech athletic directorKirby Hocutt. Its other members wereWisconsin athletic directorBarry Alvarez, formerSouthern Miss head coachJeff Bower, formerCentral Michigan athletic directorHerb Deromedi, formerNCAA executive vice presidentTom Jernstedt, former head coachBobby Johnson,Arkansas athletic director and former CFP selection committee chairmanJeff Long,Oregon athletic directorRob Mullens,Clemson athletic directorDan Radakovich, formerUnited States secretary of stateCondoleezza Rice, formerUSA Today reporterSteve Wieberg, and former college head coachTyrone Willingham.[1]
The first CFP poll of the season was released on November 1, 2016, with four conferences represented in the top six: No. 1Alabama and No. 4Texas A&M from theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), No. 2Clemson from theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC), No. 3Michigan and No. 6Ohio State from theBig Ten Conference, and No. 5Washington from thePac-12 Conference.[2] Texas A&M, ranked No. 7 in theAP Poll at the time, surprised some with their inclusion in the top four, though they dropped out after their upset loss toMississippi State the following week.[3]Louisville replaced the Aggies at No. 6 in the November 8 rankings.[4] According toThe Oxford Eagle, the following weekend's games contained "a lot of losing":[5] No. 2 Clemson fell toPittsburgh,[6] No. 3 Michigan lost toIowa,[7] and No. 4 Washington was defeated by No. 20USC.[8] Further down the top ten, No. 8 Texas A&M suffered a loss toOle Miss andGeorgia upset No. 9Auburn on the same day.[9][10] As a result, Clemson fell to No. 4 and Washington to No. 6, while Ohio State jumped to No. 2 and Louisville rose one spot to No. 5.[5] Louisville, following an upset loss toHouston,[11] then fell out of the top six, and were replaced byWisconsin.[12] The regular season's final week saw Michigan drop from No. 3 to No. 5 following a double-overtime loss at No. 2 Ohio State.[13]
The following week saw most conferences host their championship games. On December 2, No. 4 Washington defeated No. 8Colorado to win thePac-12 Championship, making them likely contenders for the playoff at 12–1.[14] The following day, No. 1 Alabama's victory over No. 15Florida in theSEC Championship led the Associated Press to predict a No. 1 seed in the playoffs for the Crimson Tide,[15] while No. 3 Clemson beat No. 23Virginia Tech by a touchdown to put themselves in prime position for the playoff as well.[16] No. 7Penn State, winners of a head-to-head tiebreaker in the Big Ten East Division over Ohio State,[17] won theBig Ten Championship over No. 6 Wisconsin.[18] In the final week of the Big 12's regular season, No. 9Oklahoma clinched the conference title with a defeat of No. 10Oklahoma State.[19]
The final rankings, released on December 4, kept Alabama at No. 1 and elevated ACC champions Clemson to No. 2, with Ohio State at No. 3 and Washington staying at No. 4.[20] Despite winning the Big Ten Championship, Penn State finished No. 5, one spot outside of the playoff, and was assigned to play No. 9 USC in theRose Bowl. Michigan was ranked No. 6 and was chosen to face No. 11Florida State in theOrange Bowl. Big 12 champions Oklahoma, ranked No. 7, were to play No. 14 Auburn in theSugar Bowl.[21]
| No. | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (8–0) | Alabama (9–0) | Alabama (10–0) | Alabama (11–0) | Alabama (12–0) | Alabama (13–0) |
| 2 | Clemson (8–0) | Clemson (9–0) | Ohio State (9–1) | Ohio State (10–1) | Ohio State (11–1) | Clemson (12–1) |
| 3 | Michigan (8–0) | Michigan (9–0) | Michigan (9–1) | Michigan (10–1) | Clemson (11–1) | Ohio State (11–1) |
| 4 | Texas A&M (7–1) | Washington (9–0) | Clemson (9–1) | Clemson (10–1) | Washington (11–1) | Washington (12–1) |
| 5 | Washington (8–0) | Ohio State (8–1) | Louisville (9–1) | Washington (10–1) | Michigan (10–2) | Penn State (11–2) |
| 6 | Ohio State (7–1) | Louisville (8–1) | Washington (9–1) | Wisconsin (9–2) | Wisconsin (10–2) | Michigan (10–2) |
Key: Team increased ranking from previous week Team decreased ranking from previous week Team selected to College Football Playoff
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Washington | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 1 Alabama | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
atGeorgia Dome •Atlanta, Georgia
The Peach Bowl semifinal paired No. 1 Alabama, defending national champions making their third consecutive CFP appearance, with No. 4 Washington, making their CFP debut.[22] It was the fifth meeting between the teams and the first since the1986 Sun Bowl.[23] Washington opened the scoring with a touchdown pass fromJake Browning toDante Pettis in the first quarter, and a touchdown rush byBo Scarbrough three minutes later tied the score. Alabama took the lead on a field goal shortly into the second quarter and did not relinquish it, scoring two further touchdowns on aninterception return byRyan Anderson and another rush by Scarbrough, who won offensiveMost Valuable Player. In all, ten of Alabama's twenty-four points came off of turnovers, and the interception return was their eleventh defensive touchdown of the season.[24]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 2 Clemson | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
atUniversity of Phoenix Stadium •Glendale, Arizona
The Fiesta Bowl semifinal matched No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State, who met for the third time and the first since the2014 Orange Bowl.[25] A 45-yard field goal by Clemson placekickerGreg Huegel was followed by aDeshaun Watson rushing touchdown in the game's opening quarter, and Clemson scored a touchdown in each of the remaining three quarters—a reception by C.J. Fuller and rushes by Watson andWayne Gallman—to finish as Fiesta Bowl champions by a thirty-one point margin.[26] Clemson head coachDabo Swinney praised the defense's performance, including that ofClelin Ferrell, the game's defensive MVP, recorded three tackles for loss, including asack.[26][27] Clemson's 31–0 win marked the first shutout loss for Ohio State head coachUrban Meyer and the first such loss for the Buckeyes since 1993.[26]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Clemson | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 35 |
| No. 1 Alabama | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
atRaymond James Stadium •Tampa, Florida
A rematch of the National Championship Gamea year prior, Alabama and Clemson met again to decide the national champion.[28] Alabama was first to score on a touchdown rush by Bo Scarbrough after the Crimson Tide had gained possession following a turnover on downs by the Tigers.[29] They doubled the lead on another Scarbrough rush in the second quarter,[28] and the teams traded scores for the majority of the rest of the game.[30] Clemson took their first lead with less than five minutes remaining on a 4-yard touchdown rush by Wayne Gallman. This was the first of three lead changes in the fourth quarter, the last of which came on a touchdown pass from Watson toHunter Renfrow with one second remaining.[28] The Associated Press remarked that the game-winning two-yard strike was "one of the easiest throws [Watson] had to make all night".[28]
Clemson's win in the title game gave them their first national championship since1981.[28] The Tigers finished the season with a record of 14–1.[30] The win marked Clemson's first against a No. 1-ranked team, and it ended Alabama's winning streak of twenty-six games.[28] Swinney said after the conclusion of the national championship that it had been "one of the greatest games of all time".[28]
The national championship was the most-viewed cable telecast since the Alabama–Clemson championship the year prior, and it was the eighth-most-watched cable broadcast in history. The average viewership across the entire playoff was 22.23 million viewers, with the championship receiving a total viewership of 26.03 million.[31] The championship'sNielsen rating of 15.4 represented a 4% year-over-year increase, and the game broke records for average audience and unique viewers. The three playoff games averaged a 12.7 rating and increases of at least 25% in streaming audience and unique viewers.[32]
