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ESPN’s exclusive announcement of teams participating in the two Playoff Semifinals – the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – was chockfull of debate, discussion and analysis during College Football Playoff: Top 25 Selection Show on Sunday, Dec. 4.

ESPN’s Rece Davis revealed the top six teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings, along with analysts Joey Galloway, Kirk Herbstreit, David Pollack, Danny Kanell and Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica, as well as Chris Fowler and several reports across the fruited plains via satellite. Davis spoke with College Football Playoff Committee Chair Kirby Hocutt, who will also appear later in the four-hour show.

Additionally, teams selected for the other four New Year’s Six bowls (Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual), the final Top 25 rankings and start times for the semifinal games will be announced close to 2:30 p.m. Coverage will continue throughout the day on ESPN platforms – full schedule.

Analyst Quotes
Herbstreit
“Watching Penn State come back, the way they won the game, it made me step back and really reevaluate Penn State.”

Pollack
“It’s not about the conference champions, it’s about finding the four best teams.”

Galloway
“Washington doesn’t have better wins [than Penn State].”

Fallica
“If you’re looking at most deserving, Penn State has a better resume.”

Galloway
“Ohio State is built to [play a tough non-conference schedule].”

Herbstreit
“There is a ton of value in playing the heavyweight non-conference game.”

After the #CFPReveal
Kanell
“The Pac-12 has been undervalued all year long.”

Pollack
“Washington’s consistency throughout the season was strong. They got hit in the mouth with USC, but they responded well to finish the season strong.”

Galloway
“This ranking makes sense. We’re starting to look at some of things that matter – conference championship, how teams finish at the end of the season.”

Herbstreit
“Ohio State in there because of their win against Oklahoma.”

Galloway
“Penn State, because they are lacking in scholarships, would not be built to run an out of conference schedule the way Ohio State can.”

Pollack
“[Ohio State] went on the road, which is the harder thing to do in college football, and won. You can’t dismiss them.”

Committee Chair Kirby Hocutt
On Washington
“While it was challenging and detailed conversation, Washington deserved that number four spot and the committee believes it is the better team versus Penn State.”

Reason Oklahoma not in top six
“On the defensive side of the ball, they weren’t as complete of a team.”

About Scheduling in the Future
“Each athletic director looks at where their program is at this particular time, I think it depends on where you see your program at that particular time. I would say that you have to play a good schedule and win those games.”

Overall Selection
“Conference championships are hard to win and we saw some great games. Our charge, our mission is to select the top four teams in college football. We come back to our protocol in identifying the four best teams – conference championships are only one metric of that.”

College Football Playoff Schedule
The New Year’s Six begins on Friday, Dec. 30, with the Capital One Orange Bowl (8 p.m.) and continues on Saturday, Dec. 31, with the College Football Playoff Semifinals: the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (3 p.m. or 7 p.m. ET) and the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (3 p.m. or 7 p.m.). A tripleheader Monday, Jan. 2, will conclude the third year of the premier bowl series: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (1 p.m.), the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual (5 p.m.) and the Allstate Sugar Bowl (8:30 p.m.).  Each of the New Year’s Six games will be televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and heard on ESPN Radio.

The season will conclude with the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday, Jan. 9, on ESPN, ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes.

ESPN and the College Football Playoff
ESPN has an exclusive 12-year agreement through 2026 with the College Football Playoff to televise the national championship game and semifinals, as well as the four bowl games comprising the New Year’s Six rotation to host the semifinals. In 2015, the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship garnered the most-watched and highest-rated telecast in the history of cable television.  All games are featured across ESPN platforms including ESPN, ESPN Radio, and via WatchESPN on computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox LIVE. Additionally, ESPN can distribute the matchups on numerous platforms and around the world via ESPN International.

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