Who will win the first national title of the new era. Ohio State won its last national championship in 2014 — the first year of the four-team College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes are favored to win the national title now, one year after rival Michigan won its first national championship since 1997.

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.

Ohio State plays Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Friday. Some in the college football world are bracing for a worst-case scenario with either Penn State or Notre Dame playing for a national title. Today,