Sports’ Nicole Auerbach breaks down the 2016 College Football playoff games between Alabama-Washington and Clemson-Ohio State.
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“Because of Washington’s strength of schedule, their margin for error was very slim”, committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said. Ohio State and Clemson are in for the second time, and Washington is a first-timer in the four-team field. Every other Power 5 conference has been represented at least twice.
But Hocutt’s explanation, when asked about the Sooners, was off the mark.
At that time, Bowlsby said, “Given our round-robin, nine-game scheduling model, it is expected the Big 12 champion will be uniquely positioned for College Football Playoff consideration”. The committee is not putting together a game plan for a Saturday showdown. The committee is not the judges panel at a beauty pageant. They came from 11 points down in the first half to hand Baylor (6-6, 3-6) its sixth straight loss after a 6-0 start.
But how close did Penn State actually get to pushing Ohio State?
Washington players celebrate the team’s 41-10 win over Colorado in the Pac-12 Conference champio …
Alabama leads the nation in total, scoring and rushing defense. But two-loss teams are gaining. Alabama has a way of pouncing on other teams’ mistakes and then not letting them back in the game.
If another round were added to the playoff, my best bets for inclusion would be Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State and a virtual toss up between USC and Wisconsin. Imagine, in another year, a two-loss Florida team with an early season loss to top 25 teams such as Virginia Tech and Florida State? Does the conference championship game make a difference, or does it not? Ohio State also defeated Nebraska, 62-3, when the Cornhuskers were ranked No. 10 by the CFP committee.
The Nittany Lions used that victory to propel themselves to first place in the Big Ten’s East Division.
I had previously argued that there was a case to be made both for and against Ohio State making the final four, but that determination had much to do with the eventual results of the conference championship games (of which Ohio State did not participate). He also noted that he wished he was in the Big Ten Championship when he was at home watching it.
Easier scheduling has its day.
Despite being the No. 3 seed, Ohio State is a 3-point favorite over No. 2 Clemson, according to expert R.J. Bell. Ohio State, Clemson, Washington and Penn State round out the top five, followed by Michigan, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, USC and Florida State.
Ohio State and Clemson will kick off at 7 p.m. ET Dec. 31 in Phoenix; Bama and Washington kickoff is 3 p.m. ET in Atlanta.
FILE – In this Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016, file photo, Ohio State running back Curtis Samuel runs the b …
The answer might be yes, and that’s a problematic answer for the committee. Strength of schedule matters.
One thing that may not be on the team’s mind but rather on the fans’ is payback.
But don’t let it happen again.
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Temple will face Wake Forest in Annapolis on December 27 at 3:30 p.m. on our sister station ESPN.
