Top-seeded Clemson will play No. 4 Oklahoma at the Orange Bowl and No. 2 Alabama gets No. 3 Michigan State at the Cotton Bowl in the New Year's Eve semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
   
The selection committee revealed the pairings on CFP Selection Sunday, a day after the top teams eliminated any controversy about who should be in the final four.
   
Clemson (13-0) has been No. 1 since the committee began its rankings the first week of November. As the top seed, the Tigers get to play as close to home as possible. The Tigers and Sooners (11-1) met in Russell Athletic Bowl last season.
   
Alabama (12-1) began its season at AT&T Stadium in North Texas against a Big Ten (Wisconsin) and returns to face another in Michigan State (12-1).

Orange Bowl: No. 1 Clemson vs No. 4 Oklahoma

Another year, another Clemson vs. Oklahoma bowl game.
   
Only this time, the stakes are immeasurably higher than they were at this time last year.
   
Clemson (13-0, No. 1 CFP) will meet Oklahoma (11-1, No. 4 CFP) in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31, one of the two semifinal games in this season's College Football Playoff. It's a rematch of last season's Russell Athletic Bowl, a 40-6 romp for the Tigers that served as a springboard of sorts on the way for Dabo Swinney's team to be the last unbeaten club at the FBS level this season.
   
And now the question is if the Tigers can finish the job.
   
"We set out Aug. 3 to try to win 'em all," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told ESPN on its CFP selection broadcast. "We stayed focused, we stayed the course, we stayed committed to our mentality and our preparation each and every week. Our leadership was phenomenal. We weren't always pretty but championship teams find ways to win, and that's what this team has done time and time again."
   
Clemson outscored opponents 500-263 this season, and though the Tigers were tested at times they never trailed in a fourth quarter. The Tigers wrapped up their spot with a 45-37 win over North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game on Saturday night, the team's 16th consecutive win going back to last season.
   
"Oklahoma is a tremendous team," Swinney said.
   
The Tigers are well-versed in how to get around Sun Life Stadium, and embarrassed Miami 58-0 earlier this season on the same field they'll see for the bowl game.
   
But no team has been to the Orange Bowl more than Oklahoma.
   
The Sooners -- outright winners of the Big 12 title, their ninth in 17 seasons under coach Bob Stoops -- are extending their record by heading to the Orange for the 19th time. Oklahoma was thought to be doomed by a midseason loss to Texas, but won seven straight by a combined score of 364-136 to secure their spot in the CFP mix.
   
"I don't think any of it is about getting teams back," Oklahoma cornerback Zack Sanchez said, when asked about the rematch with Clemson. "The ultimate motivation right now is winning a national championship."
   
Oklahoma fell one spot in the final CFP rankings from No. 3 to No. 4, leapfrogged by Big Ten champion Michigan State. And while that might have seemed puzzling to some, it ultimately didn't matter in that the Sooners are one of the four teams left with a chance to win it all.
   
"Last year was last year," Oklahoma wide receiver Sterling Shepard told ESPN on its selection show. "We have to put that behind us. We know we're playing a good team."

Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Alabama vs No. 3 Michigan State

Alabama and Michigan State will play each other in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl in a stadium where both teams have already been this year.
   
The Dec. 31 game pits Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban against the first team he ever took to a bowl.
   
Saban and the SEC champion Tide (12-1) are the only team that also played in the first four-team playoff last season. Alabama lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
   
Michigan State (12-1) beat previously undefeated Iowa on Saturday night for the Big Ten championship and to earn its playoff spot.
   
Saban was 34-21-1 in five seasons at Michigan State (1995-99) before going to LSU, then later the NFL and to Alabama in 2007. The Spartans lost in the Independence, Sun and Aloha bowls in Saban's first three seasons, but did win the Citrus Bowl over Florida his final season -- after he had already left to start his job at LSU.
   
Alabama opened this season with a 35-17 victory over Big Ten team Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl since the 2009 season.
   
Michigan State and Alabama have played only once before. The Crimson Tide won 49-7 in the Capital One Bowl in 2011.
   
That was an embarrassing end to the Spartans' first really good season under coach Mark Dantonio. They tied for the Big Ten title that season, but lost out on the tiebreaker and didn't get to go the Rose Bowl.
   
Michigan State has won its last four bowl games since, including last New Year's Day in its first Cotton Bowl. The Spartans overcame a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 42-41 win over Baylor.
   
This one promises to be a bruiser between two of the most physical teams in college football.
   
Alabama got 189 yards from Derrick Henry on a staggering 44 carries against Florida's stingy defence Saturday to win the SEC title game 29-15. Jake Coker threw for 2014 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Alabama's 10th consecutive victory.
   
Michigan State won the Big Ten championship 16-13 over Iowa, with freshman L.J. Scott lunging forward for a 1-yard TD in the final minute that capped an epic 22-play drive.