Back to Dallas: Michigan State to Play Alabama in the Cotton Bowl

It's official - MSU is #3 in the final College Football Playoff Rankings after the win against Iowa in Indianapolis last night. That means they'll head back to the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve to play #2 seed Alabama at 8 PM Eastern:

1. Clemson 2. Alabama 3. Michigan State 4. Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/qa7jK6jAMg

— CFBPlayoff (@CFBPlayoff) December 6, 2015

Clemson and Oklahoma will meet in the Orange Bowl in the other semifinal. It did appear that at least one MSU player was hoping that MSU would play in the other semifinal game:

I wanted to go to Florida so bad

— Tyson Smith#️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ (@4Tyson_TD) December 6, 2015

In any case, the matchup with Alabama will be an interesting one. The Crimson Tide's Derrick Henry is a Heisman frontrunner and will be a load to take down, but a team without an elite quarterback should allow MSU's defense to be effective. Or, put more succinctly:

First thought on matchup: I wasn't alive to see WWI trench warfare, but I'm guessing MSU-Bama should be pretty close

— Pete Rossman (@PeteAtTOC) December 6, 2015

WE WANT BAMA!