The Latest: Michigan, Georgia set for Orange Bowl CFP clash

The Latest from the College Football Playoff announcement and bowl selection day (all times Eastern):

12:40 p.m.

No. 2 seed Michigan and No. 3 Georgia will meet in a College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Eve at the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The storied programs have met only twice, and not since 1965. Georgia won that game 15-7. Michigan won 26-0 in 1957. Both were regular-season games.

Michigan (12-1) is making its first appearance in the playoff. Georgia (12-1) is in for the second time, and first since 2017-18.

This will be the third time the Orange Bowl has hosted a national semifinal. Hard Rock Stadium was site for Alabama’s win over Ohio State in the 2021 national championship game.

Michigan is coming off a 42-3 win over Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. The Wolverines won their first conference title since 2004. Georgia lost 41-24 to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game.

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12:35 p.m.

Cincinnati is the first team from outside a Power Five Conference to make the College Football Playoff. The Bearcats will play top-seeded Alabama in a semifinal game at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

The American Athletic Conference champion Bearcats (13-0), No. 4 in the final CFP rankings released Sunday, are the only undefeated team left this season.

Alabama (12-1) is in the playoff for a record seventh time in the eight years of the four-team format, and will play its 12th CFP game. The Crimson Tide won the SEC championship game over Georgia, which had been the only other team without a loss.

Cincinnati is playing in its second consecutive New Year’s Six game. Its only loss over the past two seasons was in the Peach Bowl last New Year’s Day, when Georgia kicked a 53-yard field goal with three seconds left for a 24-21 win.

The Bearcats have only two wins over Top 25 teams. That included 24-13 at Notre Dame on Oct. 2, the only loss this season for the Fighting Irish, who were fifth in the final playoff rankings.

Alabama will play its third CFP semifinal game at the home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys, winning the first two in national title seasons. The Tide beat Michigan State 38-0 in the Cotton Bowl six years ago, and last Jan. 1 beat Notre Dame 31-14 in a Rose Bowl game relocated from California because of the pandemic.