Ohio State’s Urban Meyer said he empathizes with Penn State and would not mind seeing a system that rewards all conference champions. This time, it’s for a spot in the national championship game. How about a head-to-head victory? It won the East ahead of Ohio State and MI behind the play of sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley and running back Saquon Barkley.
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“How humbled and honored we are to have this opportunity”, Franklin said. “It’s on you now, committee”. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game.
Star quarterback J.T. Barrett is the linchpin of Ohio State’s offense for his ability to run and improvise, and his candidacy for Big Ten player of the year is a testament to that. Though Washington might not feel as comfortable as the other two.
Ohio State, the lone non-conference champion in the playoff field gets in due to the strength of its resume. Penn State won 38-31.
Under Pry’s defensive leadership, Penn State (11-2, 8-1) yielded just three points in the final 40 minutes and 15 seconds against Wisconsin (10-3, 7-2), as the Nittany Lions ran off an wonderful 31-3 string to beat the Badgers, 38-31, and win the Big Ten Championship game.
The Nittany Lions and Trojans have combined to win 17-straight games and are among the hottest teams in college football. They beat Ohio State in October. The yardage and TD passes were both Big Ten championship game records.
He said Washington’s only loss was to a top-10 team in USC, while of Penn State’s two losses, one was a “not competitive” 49-10 drubbing by MI, the other coming to 8-4 Pittsburgh. Basically, they are tiebreakers.
None of this is to bash the non-Big Ten teams that made the Playoff.
When the four teams are revealed Sunday at noon, the committee will have to decide if it keeps with the precedent it set in the first two year or if it will create a new one by keeping Penn State on the outside. And if it does, which one? But there is a difference, and it favors the Huskies.
But the Wolverines were home, too.
Some sort of lightbulb must have gone off in the heads of Hawkeye football players after their crushing 41-14 loss to Penn State in Week 10. The Buffaloes finished 10-3 overall and won the South division, but dropped to No.10 after losing to Washington in the Pac-12 Conference championship game Friday night. Or to agree that one-loss Clemson should rise to the second slot after defeating Virginia Tech for the Atlantic Coast Conference title. Mike Riley will lead the Huskers to his second straight bowl game with the team, this time against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.
The top four seeds in the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings held form in Sunday’s announcement, although Ohio State and Clemson swapped places, which merely means the color of their uniforms will change when they meet on the field. They had just lost 49-10 to MI to start the season with a 2-2 record, and some of the more impatient fans were starting to call for James Franklin’s job.
No. 2 Ohio State is making its second playoff appearance and No. 3 Clemson (12-1) is in for the second consecutive season.
Led by dynamic quarterback Deshaun Watson, Clemson lost to Alabama in the national championship game last season in Arizona.
The Big Ten’s champion won’t go where it hoped. That won’t happen this time around. Yet, when they needed it most, it wasn’t there. The Rose, Cotton and Sugar bowls are all January 2. “It’s not over, we still have one game left, regroup, get prepared for a bowl game, make the most of that”.
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Florida is expected to play Nebraska in the Outback Bowl while Florida State and MI are pointed toward an Orange Bowl showdown.
