The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide will play for the national championship for the first time in three years after they defeated the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans 38-0in the Cotton Bowl on Thursday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
With the win, 'Bama will meet No. 1 Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Jan. 11, as the Tigers rolled past the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners 37-17 in the Orange Bowl earlier on New Year's Eve.
According to ESPN, Michigan State became just the second team ranked in the Associated Press Top Three to get shut out in a bowl game over the past four decades:
In the last 40 yrs, the only AP top-3 team to get shut out in its bowl was LSU in the '12 BCS title game .