The College Football Playoff begins on New Year's Eve with two terrific games: Clemson against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl and Alabama against Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl.
The winners of those two games will meet on Jan. 11 for the national championship, and the winner of that game will be the last team to hoist the Playoff trophy before DJ Durkin and Maryland make a presumable run of five to seven consecutive championships. So Nick Saban, Mark Dantonio, Dabo Swinney and Bob Stoops had better get theirs now.
SB Nation College Football has everything you could possibly want to know about the Playoff. Here's your basic primer to get you started, and here are massive hubs of information on the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, respectively. Old friend Pete Volk and company have done an amazing job covering it, so it's basically as if Maryland itself is playing in the Playoff.
The Orange Bowl is at 4 p.m. The Cotton Bowl is at 8 p.m (both times Eastern). They're both on ESPN and can be streamed at WatchESPN (or on its phone app if you're on your phone and antisocial at a New Year's party).
Enjoy the games, and from the Testudo Times family to yours, have a happy new year.