It was the second edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and involved the top four teams in the country as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll playing in two semifinals, with the winners of each advancing to the national championship game.
As a result of their victories, Clemson and Alabama faced each other in the national championship game, held on January 11 in Glendale, Arizona.
The playoff set streaming viewership records for the CFP, with both semifinals besting those of the previous year and the championship doing the same.
The 2015–16 CFP selection committee was chaired by Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long.
Its other members were Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, former United States Air Force Academy superintendent Michael C. Gould, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, former NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt, former head coach Bobby Johnson, former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, former United States secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former Big East Conference commissioner Mike Tranghese, former USA Today reporter Steve Wieberg, and former college head coach Tyrone Willingham.
Notre Dame, an FBS independent, and Baylor, from the Big 12 Conference, rounded out the top six.
10 North Carolina to remain undefeated,[16] leading Sports Illustrated to declare them the "clear No.
[19] Ultimately, Clemson and Alabama were selected in the top two spots, while Michigan State rose to No.
[24] Each team scored once in the first quarter: Oklahoma capped their opening drive with a Samaje Perine touchdown rush, while Clemson's Greg Huegel kicked a field goal on the Tigers' second possession.
In the second half, Oklahoma, who lost both Perine and Joe Mixon to injury, failed to score, and the Tigers added touchdowns by Wayne Gallman and Hunter Renfrow to recapture and keep the lead.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, was named MVP alongside linebacker Ben Boulware as the Tigers won by twenty to advance to the National Championship.
[25] at AT&T Stadium • Arlington, Texas The Cotton Bowl Classic semifinal matchup paired No.
[27] A field goal made the score 10–0 at halftime, but touchdowns from Calvin Ridley, Cyrus Jones, and Henry in the second half cemented a "blowout" win for the Crimson Tide, according to The Dothan Eagle.
[28][29] The win was the ninth in nine attempts for Alabama head coach Nick Saban against his former assistants and saw Derrick Henry, the Heisman Trophy winner, break the SEC single-season rushing touchdowns record of twenty-three early in the game.
[32] Alabama scored first on a 50-yard touchdown rush by Derrick Henry, and Clemson responded on their next drive with a pass from Deshaun Watson to Hunter Renfrow to tie the game.
A field goal and a touchdown apiece to begin the second half made the score 24–24 early in the fourth quarter.
[33] Following the Adam Griffith field goal that tied the game, Alabama attempted and recovered an onside kick, allowing them to retain possession of the ball.
[33][34] Alabama scored a touchdown two plays later on a pass to O. J. Howard and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game,[35] despite a national championship-record 40 combined points in the fourth quarter.
[36] Alabama's win gave them their fourth national championship in the previous seven seasons, the second team in history to do so after Notre Dame from 1943 to 1949.
The championship was the fifth for head coach Nick Saban and the sixteenth all-time for the Crimson Tide.
[36][35] The national championship game drew a viewership average of 25.7 million, a drop of 23 percent,[37] with a Nielsen rating of 15.8.