CFP: Michigan State draws Alabama in the Cotton Bowl

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

— CFBPlayoff (@CFBPlayoff) December 6, 2015

It's Michigan State and Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, as the Spartans' hard-nosed victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes allowed them to vault an Oklahoma team which has feasted on backup quarterbacks in 2015.

A Michigan State victory will likely begin and end with stopping odds-on Heisman favorite (if Verne is to be believed) Derrick Henry, Alabama's phenomenal bruising running back who has racked up 1986 yards on 339 carries, good for a 5.9 ypc average. Henry averaged 11.3 ypc against Wisconsin in a September pasting of the Badgers, though turned in a more workmanlike performance against Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

I've got Sparty around an 8-point underdog in the semifinal, with Clemson favored by 4-5 over Oklahoma.

Stay tuned to Off Tackle Empire today for your bowl game updates! The rest of the CFP Top 25 will be released at 2pm CST, and we'll have an article for you shortly thereafter. Talk about Michigan State's matchup with 'Bama and the rest of the CFP here!