Where: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
TV/Radio: ESPN/1410
Series history: Clemson leads 3-0 with all of the meetings in bowls.
Last game: The Tigers trounced the Buckeyes 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, 2016. It was the most lopsided loss of coach Urban Meyer's career and the first time Ohio State was shut out since 1993. That was also a College Football Playoff semifinal.
READ MORE: Buckeyes blitzed by Clemson
Coaches: Ohio State's Ryan Day is 16-0, including a 3-0 mark last season as interim coach of the Buckeyes. Clemson's Dabo Swinney is 129-30 in 12 seasons. He has won two national championships, including last season.
Ohio State notes: The Buckeyes won the Big Ten for the third straight season and are making their third College Football Playoff appearance. They won it all in 2014… Ohio State leads the nation in scoring (48.7 points per game) and is No. 2 in scoring defense (12.5)… The 633 points scored this year by Ohio State is the third most in program history and 39 behind the 2014 team's single-season record… With a catch in 47 consecutive games, K.J. Hill can tie Wilmington's Gary Williams for the program record if he snags at least one pass against the Tigers… Ohio State is allowing just 247.6 yards of total offense per game, the lowest since the 2007 squad gave up 233.0 yards/game… 23 active Ohio State players have already received their degrees… J.K. Dobbins is 99 rushing yards from breaking Eddie George's school single-season record of 1,927 set in 1995 when he won the Heisman Trophy… Ohio State has allowed just seven passing touchdowns this season, which is tied with Kentucky for the fewest in the country. No team has thrown more than one touchdown pass in any single game this season.
Clemson notes: Clemson has a nation's best 28-game winning streak… While Ohio State won every game by double digits, the Tigers had only one game decided by less than 14 points, a 21-20 win at North Carolina in September… Clemson leads the nation in scoring defense (10.6 points per game), total defense (244.7 yards per game), passing defense (138.5 yards per game) and pass efficiency defense… The Tigers have allowed 161 first downs, fewest in the nation (Ohio State leads the nation with 369 first downs)…Clemson won its fifth ACC title in a row and is in the CFP for a fifth consecutive year… Since 2013, Clemson leads the nation with 75 wins against Power 5 conference opponents. Ohio State is second with 69, two more than Alabama.
Quotable: Swinney on the matchup: "This is two great teams, just tremendous amount of respect for Ohio State. As I said earlier, kind of mirror images of each other in so many ways. You can tell that both teams like each other, play for each other, believe in themselves and their teammates. I think that really resonates on film. So should be a heck of a game, and we're all looking forward to a great competition."
Next game: The winner will play in the CFP National Championship game in New Orleans on Jan. 13.
Prediction: Ohio State 42, Clemson 34
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