2016–17 College Football Playoff

The 2016–17 College Football Playoff was a single-elimination postseason tournament that determined the national champion of the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the third edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and involved the top four teams in the country as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll playing in two semifinals, with the winners of each advancing to the national championship game. Each participating team was the champion of its respective conference: No. 1 Alabama from the Southeastern Conference, No. 2 Clemson from the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 3 Ohio State from the Big Ten Conference, and No. 4 Washington from the Pac-12 Conference.

The playoff bracket's semifinal games were held at the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve, part of the season's slate of bowl games. In the Peach Bowl semifinal, Alabama defeated Washington, 24–7. The Fiesta Bowl semifinal saw Clemson shutout Ohio State, 31–0. As a result of their victories, Clemson and Alabama faced each other in the national championship game, a rematch of the previous season's championship game, held on January 9 in Tampa, Florida. Clemson won the rematch by a four-point margin to claim their first championship of the CFP era and their second national championship in school history, the first since 1981.

Selection and teams
The 2016–17 CFP selection committee was chaired by Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Its other members were Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, former Southern Miss head coach Jeff Bower, former Central Michigan athletic director Herb Deromedi, former NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt, former head coach Bobby Johnson, Arkansas athletic director and former CFP selection committee chairman Jeff Long, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, former United States secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former USA Today reporter Steve Wieberg, and former college head coach Tyrone Willingham. Key: