Also, click over here for the full 2017-2018 college football bowl game schedule as it’s announced throughout Sunday.
Sugar Bowl semifinal 2017: Clemson vs. Alabama location, date, and more
Date, time, location, team records, and more on this newly announced bowl game.
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Where is the Sugar Bowl semifinal, and how can I watch?
Stadium and city: Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans
Date and time: Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m. ET
TV and streaming: ESPN and WatchESPN
What should I know about the two teams in the Rose Bowl semifinal?
Clemson (12-1, 7-1 in ACC)
Let us guess: You thought Clemson was going to take a step back this season? You thought replacing the best player in school history would prove difficult, and that the Tigers couldn’t sustain the style of play that allows them to let their foot off the gas and still win?
You were wrong. Clemson’s lone loss was a Friday night upset at the hands of Syracuse. Besides that, the Tigers have run through the schedule unblemished just like last season. At times it’s been closer than the experts think, like against Auburn and NC State, but what counts is that the Tigers are Playoff-bound after another largely dominant campaign.
For more on the Tigers, see SB Nation’s Shakin’ The Southland.
Alabama (11-1, 7-1 in SEC)
The Tide fell flat in an SEC West-deciding Iron Bowl at Auburn, and that denied them the chance to show out on Championship Weekend. But Alabama still has the deepest roster in the country and is still the surest winning bet anywhere.
They’ve demonstrated they’re not unbeatable, and their schedule this year was just so-so. But it will take nothing less than a Herculean effort to beat this team in any setting. Their running game and defense are both devastating, and Jalen Hurts has taken strides as a passer.
For more, check out SB Nation’s Roll Bama Roll.
This is the Sugar’s second Playoff semifinal go-around.
The Sugar Bowl plays host to a Playoff semi every three years. In years when the Sugar hosts one semi, the Rose hosts the other. This is the second of those instances, after the two historic bowl games kicked off the inaugural Playoff at the end of the 2014 season. The Playoff is massive every year, and so are the Rose and Sugar Bowls (if a bit less so) even when they’re not doubling as Playoff games. It’s extra special when these two games are involved in the sport’s main event, as they are this year.
Last year’s Sugar Bowl was a standard SEC-Big 12 matchup. Oklahoma destroyed Auburn in that game, a season before the Sooners got back to the Playoff themselves. In the first Sugar Bowl Playoff semi to cap off 2014, Ohio State upset Alabama behind backup quarterback Cardale Jones, then went on to beat Oregon in the title game.
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