CFP selection committee picks Alabama, Washington, Ohio State and Clemson

The College Football Playoff rankings were released Sunday afternoon and as expected, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington were selected as the top four teams in the country.

There’s still business to take care of, but Clemson is one win away from returning to the national championship game.

“I think that’s the hard part”, Penn State coach James Franklin said. And each team can make a compelling argument as to why it deserves in the playoff.

The Buckeyes are in at the expense of Big Ten champ Penn State.

Penn State won the Big Ten East to earn a spot in the conference title game against Wisconsin. Alabama’s 25-game winning streak puts the Tide in a league of its own, but that’s not to say the Rollers can’t be challenged in the playoff.

For instance, Ohio State’s quarterback was Braxton Miller while Clemson’s was Tajh Boyd.

The College Football Playoff selection committee was given something to ponder by Penn State. “They’ve played good teams and they’ve beaten good teams”.

The Big 12 is about to be 1 for 3 in making the College Football Playoff. It marks the first time Clemson has won a conference championship in consecutive years since 1988.

Ohio State and Clemson’s only other meeting came in the 1978 Gator Bowl. The Crimson Tide also played in three of the last five title games of the old Bowl Championship Series system, meaning that, under coach Nick Saban, the team has been in contention for the national championship in six of the last eight years.

Las Vegas installed Alabama as an early 14-point favorite over Washington.

SARKISIAN VS. HUSKIES: Former Washington and USC head coach Steve Sarkisian is facing one of his former teams.

The decision, as with other years past, is sure to create controversy. Penn State played Pitt, Temple and Kent State in the conference and lost to the Panthers. MI was No. 6, likely now bound for the Orange Bowl.

Washington’s last national title came in 1991, when the Huskies were No. 1 in the final coaches’ poll. The Tigers are ninth in total defense, allowing just 313.9 yards per game.

The defending national champs are trying to go wire-to-wire No. 1 and become the first NCAA team to go 15-0.

The other New Year’s Six matchups go like this: MI against Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Penn State against USC in the Rose Bowl and Auburn against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

Clemson: QB Deshaun Watson. Browning was just 9 for 24 for 118 yards with two touchdown passes.

Following a 42-35 win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game, the Tigers finished in the top four in the final College Football Playoff rankings for the second straight year.

Cutting through all the numbers and all the discussion, the biggest reason the committee took Washington over Penn State was because it had only one loss and Penn State had two. The last time was after the 2013 season.

Penn State dropped two of their first four, losing to Pitt, who finished 23rd in the final poll, and MI, who clobbered a banged up Nittany Lion team 49-10.

We will have plenty of preview coverage, including an in-depth look at the Trojans, leading up to the Rose Bowl on January 2.

While Alabama has steamrolled almost every opponent this year, the Huskies have shown that they have an impressive offense with Jake Browning at quarterback.

Penn State will make its fourth appearance in the Rose Bowl, including three against USC. The Buckeyes will be playing their 16th bowl game in 17 seasons.