Panel’s playoff picks came down to Washington vs. Penn State

But it was the imperfect ending that college football fans have grown to expect.

No more guessing (though second-guessing is to be expected).

Expect Clemson, Ohio State, Penn State, and Washington to be the four teams in the mix for the other three spots.

If there is a pattern to be found in the committee’s work over three years it may be this simple: For the most part, the teams are ranked by the number in the loss column.

Western Michigan (13-0), at No. 15 in the final CFP rankings, beat two Big Ten teams on the road early this season, Northwestern and IL. Ohio State, which did not qualify for the Big Ten championship game, instead will be the team representing the conference in the playoff. The Buckeyes represent the BigTen, despite Penn State winning the conference championship on Saturday in a comeback-win against Wisconsin.

But this season, despite their best efforts, they won’t get to show it.

No. 15 Western Michigan vs. The SEC and Big Ten were loaded with talented teams this season, which should make this bowl game a classic. Washington had 17 rushing yards in 27 attempts against USC, which is the most physically imposing team the Huskies played this year, and quarterback Jake Browning was harassed into his worst game of the year (17 of 36 from the field, two interceptions). According to the Rose Bowl, that 1923 game started 50 minutes late because of a classic LA problem: Penn State’s team got stuck in traffic.

The final rankings are in.

Washington, its semifinal opponent, is a much less likely contender.

“After that game ended, we knew we were going to have a chance to represent the East in the game. probably the first time it hit that we were going to be doing it”.

Dropping either in favor of Penn State would be met with harsh criticism.

Before coach James Franklin left the field, he was already lobbying the playoff committee to put No. 8 Penn State in the final four.

Coming into the week, Ohio State was ranked No. 2, though it didn’t play in the Big Ten title game.

Meyer said he thinks it’s a big deal that the Buckeyes did not play a conference championship game because they did not get another week of practice and another week to get better. “We lost that election”. On a national scale, though, the committee did not judge the title to mean Penn State was the best team in the Big Ten.

Utah remains one of only five teams that have been ranked in every College Football Playoff rankings in the three years since its inception. Clemson defeated Ohio State, 40-35 behind 505 yards of total offense from quarterback Tajh Boyd on January 3, 2014 in the Orange Bowl.

“There’s no flawless system”, Franklin said.

This year was different than the previous two, but the committee did set a precedent beyond its inclusion of Ohio State – by illustrating that there are no precedents in a subjective system determined by 12 people. I’ve heard that over and over again. The result was an 18-month existential crisis for the Big 12 that led to the return of its conference championship game in 2017 and a rather public exploration of expansion possibilities. Which is the one thing, of course, that college football has perfected. The national semifinal games will take place at the Fiesta and Peach bowls.

The Tigers’ football team will be celebrated on court during Clemson’s basketball game this afternoon vs. Coppin State at Littlejohn Coliseum at 2 p.m.