College football semifinalists announced for Vrbo Fiesta Bowl

The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (13-0) and the No. 3 TCU Horn Frogs (12-1) are headed to Arizona to square off in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl which will be played at 2 p.m. on Dec. 31 at State Farm Stadium and serve as one of the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Michigan finished off the regular season with a 45-23 win over Purdue on Saturday in the Big Ten championship game, while TCU lost a hard-fought Big 12 title game to Kansas State 31-28 in overtime. The Horned Frogs were No. 3 in the previous ranking but did not drop despite that loss.

This will be the Wolverines’ second consecutive CFP Semifinal appearance and fourth berth in a New Year’s Six Bowl in the last seven seasons. The Horned Frogs are snapping a three-year bowl drought and competing in their first CFP Semifinal after being picked to finish seventh in the 10-team Big 12’s preseason poll.

There was some speculation that TCU would stay No. 3 to avoid an Ohio State-Michigan rematch but Boo Corrigan, Chairman of the selection committee, said that never factored into the discussion.

"It really wasn't discussed. Our goal was to get the top four teams right and make sure we believe that. Our goal was to get the right four, ultimately the right 25 as we go through this, make sure we have them in the right order regardless of matchups and conferences and the rest of it," he said.

Corrigan added that such a narrow defeat in a conference title game didn't blemish the resume TCU already had in place.

"Looking at body of work. We talked earlier in the year about being maybe a little bit more balanced and they're defense and you look at the last five games and they're giving up about 20 points a game on defense. The way that game flowed yesterday and they're ability to come back and ability to play the way they do. (TCU quarterback) Max Duggan what a warrior to go through the game the way he did and put them in position to take the game into overtime and chance to win that game. As a committee we looked at it as a full body of work, lot of respect for Kansas State in that room as well that when it won the day for TCU to be the No. 3 team."

It will be the second appearance in the Fiesta Bowl for both teams. Michigan beat Nebraska 27-23 in the 1986 game in which the team's current coach Jim Harbaugh, was the starting quarterback.

TCU last played in the game in 2020, losing to Boise State 17-10.

Michigan is 21-28 all-time in Bowl Games, while TCU is 17-15-1.

“What an incredible matchup we have in Michigan and TCU for the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl,” Randal Norton, Fiesta Bowl Board Chair., said. “One of best things about our bowl is having matchups that don’t normally occur. This is the first time these two teams will ever meet on the field, and it’s been 35 years since Michigan last played in the Fiesta Bowl. TCU has been an intriguing story all year and one of these teams will move on to the National Championship."

The other CFP semifinal will pit No. 1 Georgia (13-0) against No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Ohio State was the beneficiary of the loss by No. 4 USC to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and moved up into the No. 4 slot.

Alabama and Tennessee were the first two out of the semifinal scenario.

Tickets are available by visiting fiestabowl.org/tickets or calling 480-350-0911.

New Years Six

Penn State (10-2) will face Pac-12 champion Utah (10-3) in the Rose Bowl on Jan 2. in Pasadena, California. Tie-ins pair the top non-playoff team from the Big Ten against the top non-playoff team from the Pac-12. Michigan and Ohio State finished higher than Penn State in the final rankings, but the Wolverines and Buckeyes are both in the College Football Playoffs.

The Cotton Bowl will feature No. 10 USC (11-2) out of the Pac-12 and No. 16 Tulane (11-2) from the AAC on Jan. 2. No. 5 Alabama (10-2) will face No. 9 Kansas State (10-3), the Big 12 champion, in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31.

Orange will certainly be the color for the Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 in Miami. No. 10 Clemson (11-2) from the ACC will face No. 6 Tennessee (10-2) from the SEC.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Wisconsin (6-6) of the Big Ten will face Oklahoma State (7-5) from the Big 12. The game will be played on Dec. 27 at Chase Field with an 8:15 p.m. kickoff. It will be broadcast on ESPN.

This will be the first meeting between the Badgers and Cowboys.

Oklahoma State played in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, under previous names, in 2015 (Cactus Bowl) and 2007 (Insight Bowl).

The Cowboys also played in Arizona during the previous bowl season. Oklahoma State won the Fiesta Bowl a year ago.

The 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl, with tie-ins to the Big Ten and Big 12, featured Minnesota and West Virginia.

Arizona Bowl

The Arizona Bowl in Tucson will feature Wyoming (7-5) and Ohio (9-4). The game will be played on Dec. 30 at 2:30 p.m. MT.

The Cowboys have reached a bowl game for the second time in four seasons.

Wyoming and Ohio have met twice before and most recently in 2008 with the Cowboys winning both.

The game will be on TV, but can be streamed through Barstool Sports.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Matchups announced for Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl and others