September games played big role in playoffs

The College Football Playoff finalists were revealed Sunday, and the Big Ten conference had only one team selected. The Tigers’ lone loss came against an 8-4 Pittsburgh team (No. 23 in the CFP rankings) by just a point. MI lost two of its final three games on its way to a 10-2 finish.

3 p.m. or 7 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs.

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Not saying it will happen again, but the Buckeyes proved they belonged by winning the first-ever College Football Playoffs two years ago.

The Crimson Tide and Huskies have met four times previously, with the most recent contest coming in the 1986 Sun Bowl when the Crimson Tide defeated the Huskies, 28-6, to cap off a 9-3 season.

The other semifinal matches No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Washington; they play in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Coach Chris Petersen said that waiting for the final word was nerve-racking. “I didn’t hold up that sign”. The largest bet on Alabama was $5,000 at 11-2, which would pay $27,500 if the Crimson Tide repeat as national champions.

Hocutt indicated that if UW’s nonconference opponents – Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State – hadn’t been so weak, picking between Washington and Penn State would not have been almost as hard.

“I feel like I know him, I see him on TV so much, ” Petersen said.

The Ohio State Buckeyes look for their 12th victory of the season while getting back to the national championship game.

“I don’t think you can go past 15 games in college football”, said Swinney, whose did just that last season and lost to Alabama in the national championship game. The Big Ten is the best conference in the country and Penn State won the whole thing with a strong nonconference schedule. The video features pregame speeches from strength coach Mickey Marroitti, Meyer, and quarterback J.T. Barrett along with highlights starting with the 2015 semifinal game when the Buckeyes beat Alabama and all the way up to the double-overtime win over MI in the regular season finale.

Western Michigan, this season’s Cinderella team, and coach P.J. Fleck earned a date in the Cotton Bowl where the Broncos will face Wisconsin.

The Wolverines went 10-2, losing two of their last three to Iowa and Ohio State. So the Tigers will wear the home jerseys in University of Phoenix stadium instead of the Buckeyes.

Penn State players and coaches rolled hopefully back into Happy Valley on Sunday, greeted as Big Ten champions by cheers and honking vehicle horns.

If they wanted a bone to pick, Penn State and even MI could focus on the weakness of UW’s nonconference schedule. Penn State QB Trace McSorley is hard to shut down, but LB Michael Hutchings and Southern Cal’s defense has been very solid for the last two months. Swinney has taken the Tigers to a bowl game in each of his nine seasons, winning at least 10 games the past six.

“I think you guys drew it out a long as you possibly could”, UW coach Chris Petersen said a short time later on ESPN.

The selection protocol does not require the committee to pick conference champions or the victor of head-to-head matchups. Penn State coach James Franklin hollered on the field in Indianapolis, surrounded by screaming fans and confetti. Huskies QB Jake Browning, who struggled with reads against Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship Game, is facing OLB Reuben Foster and the No. 1-ranked scoring defense.