Penn State’s James Franklin Wins Big Ten Coach Of The Year

3 and 4 in total defense in the Big Ten, with the Badgers allowing 292 yards a game and the Lions 346.

Best-case scenario? You could have a playoff that pits conference champs Alabama, Clemson, Washington, Wisconsin/Penn State and Oklahoma with at-large entries Ohio State, Michigan, Western Michigan or a red-hot Southern Cal. Play the first-round games in mid-December at on-campus sites of the top four seeds and pair the eliminated quarterfinal teams in a couple of marquee consolation bowls around the New Year. The latter isn’t worth fretting over yet, in part because both teams might be left out of the playoff no matter what they do Saturday.

Points of emphasis in the selection process are: championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and comparative outcomes of common opponents. On fourth down, teams were successful 64 percent of the time against the Spartans (11-for-17), the second-highest average in the Big Ten. But based on these guidelines, the results could go any number of ways and ultimately might contradict the ground rules.

Hopefully, this year’s Big Ten dilemma accelerates that inevitable conclusion. PSU has participated in seven of the last nine final fours.

Two years ago, Texas Christian was bumped from the final standings, and the lack of a Big 12 title game was cited as one reason.

Jeff Bartl of Campus Insiders has already filed a prediction for PSU-Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game.

Franklin got some experience at the Big Ten championship game last season, even though he wasn’t coaching.

Penn State’s losses came against the Pitt Panthers and MI. Franklin led the Nittany Lions on a much better than expected run this season.

Wisconsin’s two losses came against MI and Ohio State.

“I don’t think it’s anything long-term, hopefully, but we can’t use that as an excuse and use that as a crutch”, George Washington interim coach Maurice Joseph said.

The Buckeyes stayed at No. 2 after beating the Wolverines in overtime, while Clemson and Washington fill out the top four. “I mean we felt good about ourselves, we were ranked No. 8 in the country, which is insane to think looking back on how the season played out now”. I wouldn’t say our body of work has demonstrated that.

Of course, one player doesn’t decide a football game. They are at their best when their service game is on. South Carolina’s Bryson Allen-Williams was upset.

“We finished fourth [in the Big Ten]”, Rose said. “It’s always in the back of our mind and we’ve got to keep pushing through”. It’s another thing to go on the field and actually do it. We are on a mission. “We play [the Blackbirds] on Friday”.

Unlike the Lions, the Badgers run a more traditional, between-the-tackles offense built around the power-run and stout offensive line. Northwestern also became bowl eligible Saturday with a 42-21 win over IL for the Land of Lincoln Trophy.

There is no rule that mandates that the College Football Playoff selection committee take the victor of Saturday’s contest between the No. 8 Nittany Lions and the No. 6 Badgers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the four-team tournament beginning December 31. The running backs that we’ve talked about, the wide receivers that we have, the mobility at the quarterback position. Miles Sanders has really had a nice year for us.