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College Football Playoff New Year's Six bowl matchups unveiled

Penn State will play USC in the Rose Bowl. (Photo by Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images)
Penn State will play USC in the Rose Bowl. (Getty Images)

Now that you’ve had some time to digest the College Football Playoff semifinal matchups — Alabama vs. Washington and Clemson vs. Ohio State — the selection committee revealed the other New Year’s Six bowl games.

Here’s how the slate looks:

Rose Bowl: No. 9 USC (9-3) vs. No. 5 Penn State (11-2) — Jan. 2, Pasadena, Calif.

Penn State missed out on a berth in the College Football Playoff, but a trip to Pasadena is not a bad consolation for the Big Ten champions. The Nittany Lions will face a big test in USC, which played at a very high level, including a convincing win over No. 4 Washington, over the second half of the season. Both teams had slow starts — Penn State at 2-2, USC at 1-3 — before rattling off lengthy winning streaks (nine for PSU, eight for USC) heading into the postseason.

This looks like an evenly matched game with high-powered offenses and solid, underrated defenses. Trace McSorley vs. Sam Darnold is quite the young quarterback matchup, too.

Sugar Bowl: No. 7 Oklahoma (10-2) vs. No. 14 Auburn (8-4) — Jan. 2, New Orleans

Dede Westbrook, Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners will take on Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
Dede Westbrook, Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners will take on Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. (Getty Images)

A down year in the SEC ended up working out to Auburn’s advantage as the four-loss Tigers landed a spot in the Sugar Bowl against Big 12 champion Oklahoma. It’s been an up-and-down year for the Tigers, and they will face a huge test with the Sooners and their high-powered offense.

OU got off to a rough 1-2 start, but rallied for nine straight wins down the stretch. Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook makes up one of the best quarterback-receiver duos in the country, but the Big 12 doesn’t have a defense as good as Auburn’s, which finished No. 20 nationally in total defense.

Cotton Bowl: No. 15 Western Michigan (13-0) vs. No. 8 Wisconsin (10-3) — Jan. 2, Arlington, Texas

MAC champions Western Michigan will represent the Group of Five in the Cotton Bowl vs. Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
MAC champions Western Michigan will represent the Group of Five in the Cotton Bowl vs. Wisconsin. (AP)

Row the boat! Western Michigan will represent the Group of Five after an undefeated 13-0 season which was capped off by a win over Ohio in the MAC title game. Zach Terrell, Corey Davis and the Broncos will face a swarming Wisconsin defense that will be chomping at the bit to get back on the field after giving up 38 points to Penn State in the Big Ten title game.

The Big Ten West champion Badgers can move the ball, too. That huge offensive line and back Corey Clement will be a huge test for WMU, which wants to prove its unbeaten season wasn’t simply a product of its weak conference.

Orange Bowl: No. 6 Michigan (10-2) vs. No. 11 Florida State (9-3) — Dec. 30, Miami Gardens, Fla.

Michigan will face Florida State in the Orange Bowl. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Michigan will face Florida State in the Orange Bowl. (AP)

Michigan lost its chance at the Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff in a brutal double-overtime loss to rival Ohio State a few weeks ago, but gets a chance to send the season out on a high note against a really good Florida State team. The Wolverines boast the second-best defense in the country, led by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Jabrill Peppers, and will have the challenge of corralling star Florida State running back Dalvin Cook and impressive redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois.

On the other side, Michigan has a great offensive line in front of quarterback Wilton Speight, who has a steady array of weapons to go against the athletic FSU defense. This one should be fun.

In addition to the bowl matchups, the final College Football Playoff Top 25 was also released:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Washington
5. Penn State
6. Michigan
7. Oklahoma
8. Wisconsin
9. USC
10. Colorado
11. Florida State
12. Oklahoma State
13. Louisville
14. Auburn
15. Western Michigan
16. West Virginia
17. Florida
18. Stanford
19. Utah
20. LSU
21. Tennessee
22. Virginia Tech
23. Pittsburgh
24. Temple
25. Navy

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!