ATLANTA — Alabama is very familiar with this role.

Washington? It’s been a while.

The Peach Bowl features one of college football’s greatest dynasties against the definite outsider in this season’s College Football Playoff.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide (13-0) is going for its second straight national title and fifth in the last nine seasons under coach Nick Saban .

At this point, it’s national championship or bust for Alabama.

A loss in today’s semifinal game would make this season a failure.

“It’s the ’Bama way,” linebacker Reuben Foster said.

Washington (12-1) comes into the Peach Bowl with an entirely different perspective.

The Huskies wandered in the wilderness for much of the past two decades, playing in only one major bowl since Don James retired after the 1992 season and slogging through a stretch of six straight losing seasons that included an 0-12 debacle in 2008.

Chris Petersen took over as coach in 2014 and struggled through his first two years, going 15-12. But it all came together this season as the Huskies overcame their lone loss, at home against Southern Cal, to claim the final playoff berth behind a trio of perennial national contenders that also included Ohio State and Clemson.

For Petersen, the return to prominence comes down to a simple formula he looks for in every recruit: talent plus character equals OKG (Our Kind of Guy).

“We feel real strongly about the guy that we’re looking for that we think fits our culture, our style of football,” he said Friday. “There’s a lot of good players out there, and some of those guys don’t fit what we’re all about.”

Hurts vs. Seahawks lite:

Saban said Washington’s secondary reminds him of the Seattle Seahawks. That’s a bit of an overstatement, but the Huskies do rely heavily on a talented, experienced group that includes safety Budda Baker and cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Kevin King. If the defense can shut down Alabama’s running game, it might play into Washington’s hands.

While Jalen Hurts has put together a dynamic season at quarterback for the Crimson Tide, he is still just a freshman who could get confused by some of the looks the Huskies throw at him. Washington has created 33 turnovers this season, more than any

team in the country, including 19 interceptions.

Balanced Huskies:

Jake Browning and a high-flying passing game gets much of the attention at Washington, but don’t overlook a ground game that features 1,339-yard rusher Myles Gaskin. He came through big in victories over Utah and especially Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game, when Browning was held to 118 yards on 9-of-24 passing. Washington will surely need to be balanced against Alabama’s defense, which is the best in the land.

Home-field advantage:

Alabama will be playing at the Georgia Dome for the second time this month — having already won the Southeastern Conference title on the same field — and in a city that is a manageable drive for most of its fan base. That should give the Crimson Tide a decided edge in the stands, especially when Washington is on offense. “It’s not quite a home game for anybody, but it’s probably more of an away game for us,” Petersen said. “It’s going to be loud because it’s inside and that will make it difficult to call some things.”

Fiesta Bowl

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Urban Meyer was giving the abridged version of the core values he has instilled in Ohio State football, the pillars upon which he has built the Buckeyes.

There is 4 to 6, A to B, in reference to the effort expected on each play. Power of the unit focuses on each position group. Competitive excellence, which sort of speaks for itself.

"You mean the game-day underwear, that's not the key ingredient?" Clemson coach Dabo Swinney chimed in, getting a smile from Meyer.

"I'm not saying I don't wear them," Meyer said.

Swinney and Meyer shared the stage Friday morning for the final news conference before the second-ranked Buckeyes (11-1, No. 3 CFP) and Tigers (12-1, No. 2 CFP) face off in the Fiesta Bowl. The coaches exchanged handshakes and kind of a half-hug, pat-on-the-back thing before posing for photos with an ostentatious trophy that goes to the winner of Saturday night's game — along with a trip to the College Football Playoff championship game.

The 52-year-old Meyer has a resume few who have ever coached college football can match. No current coach who has at least 10 seasons of experience has a better winning percentage than Meyer's .854. He has won three national championships, including the first College Football Playoff title two years ago.

The only thing Swinney and Clemson have not accomplished during this run, the greatest in the history of the program, is a national championship.

"I would think that you would see his poise," Swinney said about Watson. "And to me his poise really makes him incredibly unique, because he just — he just never changes."

Clemson returns to the playoff for a semifinal in the stadium where they lost 45-40 to Alabama in January.

"That was the first one, and I still, to this day, remember everybody on the sideline celebrating, screaming it's not over yet. And it was pretty much over. And then we ran a bubble screen with about a minute and a half left to Percy Harvin, and he nudged the ball past the first down marker, and I thought, even us, we can't screw this up now," Meyer said. "The knees started shaking and it was a special moment, though."