New Year's Eve brings us the second edition of the College Football Playoff, when the University of Oklahoma and Clemson will battle in one semifinal and Michigan State and Alabama will meet in the other. Clemson is the top overall seed, but Alabama is the odds-on favorite -- and the way the Crimson Tide finished the season, behind Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, makes a win for them feel a little bit inevitable.
Of course, it looked that way last year, too, and Ohio State emerged as the national champion. On this week's episode of "The Second Half" podcast, Travis Waldron and Donté Stallworth make their picks for the playoff (starting at 35:00).
Plus, Al Jazeera senior producer Jeremy Young joins the podcast to discuss the controversy around the network's recent documentary about doping in sports, in which a former pharmacist made explosive allegations about numerous athletes, including Peyton Manning (the interview starts at 13:00).
Travis and Donté also discuss the larger problems surrounding the ways sports leagues approach the issue of performance-enhancing drug use, and take a look at the NFL as its playoff picture becomes clearer.
This podcast was produced, edited and engineered by Peter James Callahan and Adriana Usero, with assistance from Christine Conetta.
