Every week, I will play Selection Committee member, take a look at the College Football Playoff picture and offer what I believe the bracket should be if the season ended today. Call it Forde's Fab Four, and feel free to disagree.

In something of a buzzkill, the playoff has sorted itself out in a remarkably orderly and non-controversial way. Big 12 champion Oklahoma is a virtual lock. The Big Ten champion, be it Michigan State or Iowa, is a virtual lock. Clemson and Alabama are 60 minutes away from lock-dom as solid favorites in their respective conference championship games. The only way this gets weird is if North Carolina (unlikely) or Florida (all but impossible) upsets the Tigers or Crimson Tide.

For months on end, college football fuels a massive rhetorical furnace with controversy and squabbling, regionalism and blind fan bias, what-iffing and league-bashing. And now all of a sudden we're fresh out of fuel. A ravenous furnace turns its growling stomach to you, Tar Heels. You're pretty much the only hope to reignite the mayhem.

Unless or until that happens, here's the way it shakes down:

ORANGE BOWL: No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Oklahoma

The final score of the Tigers' 37-32 victory over rival South Carolina was deceiving – the Gamecocks scored with one second left to make it look closer than it was. Clemson (12-0, 8-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed, led much of the game by double digits and outgained South Carolina by more than 100 yards. That completes a 12-0 regular season that reinforces Clemson's No. 1 status – which it should maintain when the rankings become real if it wins the ACC title game. With a non-conference victory over 10-2 Notre Dame, a 10-point conference win over 10-2 Florida State and four other wins against teams with winning records, Clemson has done everything asked of it up to this point. Dance your goofy rear end off, Dabo Swinney. Next: North Carolina in the ACC championship game Saturday in Charlotte.

Oklahoma (11-1, 8-1 in the Big 12) barges back into the bracket on the strength of blowing out Oklahoma State on the road, capping a November of big victories over Baylor, TCU and the rival Cowboys. Now here's the part that continues to be glossed over in the rampaging public love affair with the Sooners: in those three games they played one series against the other team's starting quarterback. Three plays. That's it. Baylor was without Seth Russell, instead playing freshman Jarrett Stidham in his second college start. TCU was without Heisman Trophy candidate Trevone Boykin (and All-America wide receiver Josh Doctson), and the Horned Frogs lost by a point and scored 30. Oklahoma State was without Mason Rudolph, who tried one series in the second quarter Saturday night and threw a pick-six. The Sooners have earned their spot in the tournament, but I'd slow the hype train a bit until they've actually faced a high-level quarterback. Next: Oklahoma is finished until a playoff assignment is handed out next Sunday.

COTTON BOWL: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Michigan State

The Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 in the Southeastern Conference) methodically put away bitter rival Auburn Saturday, behind a tour de force from running back Derrick Henry. (If this were a Heisman Trophy Fab Four, he'd be the top choice by a considerable margin at this point.) This wasn't a blowout, but Oklahoma fans can relate to the difficulty of beating an inspired, underdog archrival. (See: Texas.) Alabama's lone loss came in a five-turnover fiasco against a 9-3 Mississippi team, and the Tide have stacked up plenty of quality wins (Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Mississippi State). Only one of 11 victories was by fewer than 13 points (19-14 against Tennessee). Next: Florida Saturday in what looks like another SEC championship game mismatch.

Michigan State (11-1, 7-1 in the Big Ten) solidified its spot in the bracket by trashing Penn State, 55-16. After the upset victory at Ohio State, the Spartans avoided the letdown trap against the Nittany Lions in large part by getting star quarterback Connor Cook back from a shoulder injury suffered Nov. 14. Two defensive touchdowns didn't hurt, either. Michigan State never trailed and was never seriously threatened, further establishing itself as the Big Ten's best playoff contender. Victories over Oregon, Michigan and Ohio State offset the one-point upset loss to Nebraska. Next: Iowa in a winner-take-all Big Ten championship game Saturday in Indianapolis.

Dropped out: Notre Dame.

Also considered: Iowa.

Only other contenders: North Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford

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