Now that the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff is down to four teams remaining — the size of the field the previous 10 seasons — things really don't look that much different. The final quartet includes two teams from the Big Ten,

1. American 6-1: The AAC’s only loss was Tulane’s 33-8 defeat to Florida. The only AAC team left is North Texas, which plays Texas State in the First Responder Bowl.

If Ohio State beats Texas in the Playoff semifinals, the sport will be assured of having consecutive national champions from outside the Sun Belt region for the first time in three decades. The possibility means the playoff's expansion from four to 12 teams accomplished one of its major goals,

The four head coaches remaining in this year’s College Football Playoff have a lot to gain by winning it all. Not just a national championship, and not just the bonus that comes with it. The other prize coming the winning head coach’s way is power and prestige at a time of upheaval in the sport and evolution within his profession.

Ohio State and Texas have drawn each other as semifinal opponents in the College Football Playoff. This is the fourth game between these blue bloods.

The front-runner, the colossus, the team no opponent should want to face in College Football Playoff, hid in plain sight. No hiding now, Ohio State.