Ohio State lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions on October 22 in State College.
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Conference championships matter. Head-to-head matters.
Ohio State and Clemson have played twice before, both in bowl games. “It’s on you now, committee”. There’s a lot at stake with this weekend’s conference championship games.
Before the Ohio State-Michigan 1969 showdown, Ohio State was ranked No. 1 and Michigan No. 12 in the AP poll. The Buckeyes should not feel too comfortable this week. Sure you can, even if Penn State beat Ohio State earlier in the season.
If the Sooners or Penn State had played Washington’s nonconference schedule, would either be in the playoff instead of the Huskies? Despite its struggles at times offensively, the Ohio State offense is high-powered and can put up 40 plus points on any given day.
“We just talk about controlling the controllables, there’s nothing we can do”, U-M linebacker Jabrill Peppers said on the Big Ten Network. MI finished 10-2 and beat Penn State by 39 points.
“It’s been a concern for the committee, and I would say that it continues to be a concern for the selection committee with Washington’s strength of schedule”, Hocutt said. Basically, they are tiebreakers. Selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt made it clear that the 12-person committee did not. Meanwhile the Big Ten champion would match Colorado’s conference title but from a tougher conference.
By the way, you know what the selection committee usually does with the conference championship games on Selection Sunday? And if it does, which one? In the second-to-last installment, the committee ranked UM fifth. Or Penn State’s loss to Pitt. Another change for the ACC was that Virginia Tech crept into the rankings at No. 23, which means Clemson will face a ranked opponent in the ACC title game. Deshaun Watson accounted for 373 yards and five touchdowns, perhaps putting himself back in the Heisman race. Navy’s loss to Temple on Saturday in the American Athletic Conference championship game ensures the Midshipmen (9-3, with Army-Navy left) will play in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Crimson Tide may do something no team has managed to do since the 19th century.
Penn State and Wisconsin, who face each other in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, are two of four Big Ten squads represented in this edition of the College Football Playoff rankings. The Nittany Lions, winners of nine straight games, wound up fifth in the rankings, while MI was No. 6.
If Penn State (10-2) wins it will have what seems like a particularly good argument to make the playoff ahead of the Buckeyes. The committee has a conference call scheduled for after the December 10 Army-Navy game in case it’s necessary to determine the Cotton Bowl rep.
The problem arises when a non-champion gets in at the expense of another league. That won’t happen this time around.
As for Oklahoma, which ran the table in the Big 12 to win its 10th title under coach Bob Stoops, it is off to the Sugar Bowl.
And just for the record, in the five Power-5 title games played over the weekend, the best defense was played by Washington, I suppose, in a 41-10 rout of Colorado.
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If the undefeated Broncos get to the Cotton Bowl, will P.J. Fleck still be their coach?. Fleck is going to draw interest from Purdue and maybe Oregon. They will play the fourth-ranked Huskies in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on December 31.
