USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY Sports

It's the most wonderful time of the year for college football fans. You have holidays to celebrate and the bowl season to conclude what was another memorable season.

After 14 weeks, the College Football Playoff field emerged with Alabama and Oklahoma heading to the Orange Bowl and Clemson and Notre Dame facing off in the Cotton Bowl.

The matchup between the Sooners and Crimson Tide will feature the first meeting of the first- and second-place finishers in a bowl game since 2005 when Southern California and Texas staged their memorable title game in the Rose Bowl. Could we have that kind of classic this year?

Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

The other semifinal is a showdown of unbeatens. The Tigers and Fighting Irish are not unfamiliar foes. They staged a memorable contest in 2015 in Death Valley. And they'll face off again three times in the next five seasons as part of the Notre Dame's arrangement with the ACC. But none will have the stakes of this showdown.

The playoff isn't the only postseason action worthy of attention. There's 37 other games to keep you busy.

Urban Meyer will coach his final game at Ohio State before stepping down when the Buckeyes and Washington clash in the Rose Bowl.

Seeking more national respect, Central Florida puts its 25-game winning streak on the line in the Fiesta Bowl against LSU. It would be the second consecutive defeat of an SEC opponent in the postseason for the Knights.