The unevenness of a season played in the midst of a pandemic contributed to one of the most controversial semifinal pairings of the College Football Playoff era. Players and coaches were sidelined by COVID-19, and numerous games were canceled as the sport limped to a tense finish line with the final CFP rankings revealed Sunday, with Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame selected in the top four. No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Notre Dame will meet in The Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One on Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. ET, followed by No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 8 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN. Notre Dame earned a playoff berth despite having been dominated in the ACC championship by Clemson on Saturday, losing by 24 points. CFP chairman Gary Barta explained the decision to include the Irish over No. 5 Texas A&M, saying it was "based on the complete analysis of the résumé" and the Irish having an...