So much for “every game matters”.
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As the contenders were announced, it became clear – this unexpectedly triumphant season was going to fall frustratingly short of college football’s biggest stage.
Winning the title in a Power Five conference is worth more than the equivalent of a pat on the back. The fifth-ranked Nittany Lions (11-2, 9-1) fell one spot shy of the playoff, and instead, will settle for a Rose Bowl appearance against Southern California (9-3, 7-2 Pac-12) at 5 p.m. January 2 in Pasadena, Calif. The Sooners finished 10-2. That eight-team field would extend the playoffs by just one week and remove a little bit of the guess work on which teams are in and which are out.
Answer No. 2: I doubt it. 3 MI, pushed the Buckeyes past Penn State and back to the desert.
The point is those three schools risked losing on Saturday and, perhaps, falling out of the playoffs, while Ohio State sat at home risk-free. Maybe it’s time to drain this swamp.
Next up for Penn State is USC. Oho State did not.
It will be the first meeting of the two teams since the 2009 Rose Bowl, the last appearance for each team in the game.
Actually, the final playoff spot came down to Washington or Penn State, not Ohio State or Penn State. Despite a 39-point loss at Michigan Stadium, Penn State is ahead of the Wolverines because of its overall profile (wins over Ohio State, Wisconsin, Temple and Iowa) and conference championship.
While Penn State (11-2) might have an argument for being left out, Ohio State (11-1) lost only once – albeit to Penn State – and knocked off three teams in the Top 10. In that game, the No. 5 Trojans defeated the No. 6 Nittany Lions, 38-24, behind a four touchdown and 413-yard performance from USC’s Mark Sanchez.
Washington moves from the sixth spot to No. 5 in this week’s poll following their 44-18 win against Arizona State. Despite a head-to-head win against No. 2 Ohio State, the Big Ten title and a run fueled by one of the country’s most explosive offenses, Penn State was ranked fifth by the selection committee.
Clemson, ranked No. 2 in the country, is set to take the big stage once again with Heisman candidate Deshaun Watson at the helm. The Nittany Lions also own perhaps the most impressive victory of the season with a win at Ohio State, according to Los Angeles Times.
This season, the Buckeyes are favored by 3 over Clemson, while Alabama is favored by two touchdowns over the Huskies. But two games in September were a huge part of that decision by the playoff’s 12-person selection committee.
The Big 12 will play a conference championship game, starting in 2017. No changes will occur until after that, and who knows how college football will look then. “That’s what the Big 12 has been missing. We’re very close. I’m anxious to watch him prepare for this big-time game”.
While the tournament traditionally selects the next-highest ranked team from the conference, it is not obligated to do so, according to Rose Bowl Management Committee Chair Scott Jenkins. Clemson leads the nation in games and wins over teams in bowl games this year.
The selection protocol does not require the committee to pick conference champions or the victor of head-to-head matchups.
“Had Washington had a stronger strength of schedule, I do not think that conversation would have been as hard”, said Committee Chair Kirby Hocutt, who is also the athletic director at Texas Tech.
“There’s no question this team right here is incredibly deserving of where they are”.
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I don’t fault the committee for picking the four that it did. The criteria tells us that conference championships matter.
