New Year’s Eve 2016 college football bowls schedule: How to watch the Playoff and more

The College Football Playoff’s two semifinal games are set for New Year’s Day for the second year in a row, albeit an hour each earlier than last year. The two early games also start nice and early, meaning a full day of important football that still leaves time to go outside at some point.

All four games are available for online streaming at WatchESPN and either on ABC or ESPN. The full schedule is below.

The early spot is headlined by Louisville vs. LSU, which might be the year’s most promising bowl that wasn’t officially part of the Playoff’s New Year’s Six group. Georgia Tech-Kentucky isn’t near as big, but is also pretty underrated as far as FUN goes.

The Playoff itself should be much better than last year, with no suspect teams like 2015 Michigan State involved. Washington should at least score, is what I’m saying. And Clemson-Ohio State has a chance to be a game of the year. The winners of those two semis will meet in Tampa on Jan. 9 in the National Championship.

The pre-Championship bowls still aren’t done after this, with the Florida-Iowa Outback, Western Michigan-Wisconsin Cotton, Penn State-USC Rose, and Auburn-Oklahoma Sugar set for Monday, Jan. 2. Bowl games traditionally follow the Rose’s lead and skip Sundays, when New Year’s Day happens to be on a Sunday, yielding the day to the NFL.

It’s no secret that Alabama’s defense is one of the — if not the — most talented units in the country. So what does that mean for the Huskies offense? Well, quarterback Jake Browning will be one of the most talented passers the Tide has faced. He’ll have some opportunities to air it out, but the question is if he’ll have enough time to do so. Bama’s pass rush has silenced even the most well-equipped passers.

Ohio State and Clemson met in the 2014 Orange Bowl. Clemson got the victory, beating OSU, 40-35. Although that wasn’t a Playoff game — the system hadn’t begun just yet — this can still be classified as a revenge game. But if Clemson wins, it could set up another revenge game: against Bama in the Championship.