GRAPEVINE, Texas _ Oklahoma won the debate in Grapevine, Texas and earned the fourth and final spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Sooners (12-1) are headed a meeting with No. 1 Alabama (13-0) in the Capital One Orange Bowl in the national semifinals. No. 2 Clemson (13-0) will face No. 3 Notre Dame (12-0) in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Cotton Bowl. Both games are Dec. 29.
The ripple effects of the CFP selection process directly impacted Texas. Because Oklahoma was selected for the CFP semifinals, the Longhorns (9-4) will play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl as the runner-up in the Big 12, facing Georgia.
The debate late Saturday and into early Sunday focused on Big 12 champ Oklahoma, SEC title game loser Georgia and Big Ten champ Ohio State as the possibilities for the No. 4. The SEC had put together a major effort on Georgia's behalf, joined by ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit.
But in the end, Oklahoma had the better resume in the eyes of the committee with Heisman candidate Kyler Murray, the nation's No. 1 offense and only a three-point loss to Texas in Dallas, something that was avenged on Saturday in the Big 12 title game.
"Well, we spent considerable time on this as you might expect," CFP selection committee chairman Rob Mullens, the athletic director at Oregon, told ESPN. "At the end, one loss conference champion, with their only loss being on a neutral field, close loss to a ranked team, which they avenged in their conference championship. As we talked about for the last several weeks, dynamic offense and their defense has made some big plays in the last couple of weeks."
Oklahoma's defense had a game-turning safety of Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger on Saturday and scored two touchdowns in a key Nov. 23 win over West Virginia.
