The Big 10 Will get two Teams in Playoff

By late Saturday night, the all-important College Football Playoff (CFP) picture will hopefully be settled, at least that’s what the Selection Committee is hoping. Given the seasons put together by Alabama, Clemson and Washington, it’s hard to imagine any of those teams missing out on the playoff if they win the SEC, ACC and Pac-12 titles respectively this weekend, which would limit the Big Ten to just one representative. Hocutt said the committee is still concerned about the Broncos weak schedule.

The Huskies play No. 8 Colorado for the Pac-12 Championship on Friday night, while Clemson will face No. 23 Virginia Tech on Saturday night in the ACC title game.

However, just because Jim Harbaugh’s team was running rampant across the Big Ten for much of the season doesn’t mean that’s been the case in recent weeks.

(15) Florida vs (1) Alabama at 4:00 PM in Atlanta on CBS.

(6) Wisconsin vs (7) Penn State at 8:00 PM in Indianapolis on FOX. The Big Ten is a hot mess right now, with arguably the two best teams (Ohio State and Michigan) not even in the title game because of one insane loss apiece. And they need to do it pretty convincingly.

Even if all goes as expected, a debate will emerge if Penn State wins and misses out on the playoff in favor of the Buckeyes who Penn State beat.

Delany, who is not a member of the selection committee, said he has changed that stance in the interest of choosing the four best teams for the playoff. MI lost two of its last three games. All that is left is for the playoff committee to allow them to validate this on the biggest stage possible.

The final CFP rankings will be unveiled Sunday at noon ET (ESPN). Other issues should be easier to resolve. In the SEC, Florida will be a heavy underdog against Alabama in the title game for the second straight season, with the Gators merely beneficiaries of unbalanced scheduling, allowing them to beat up on the SEC East while largely avoiding the much tougher West. It picked up wins over Georgia and Memphis to get to 3-2, but then it went on a three-game losing streak to sink the season for good.

“Even the kickoff had a larger recording that what we had recorded for the biggest plays in other games”, said Mike Brudzinski, a professor of geology and environmental earth science at Miami University.

Wild card: If Oklahoma, now eighth, is especially impressive against Oklahoma State in a de facto Big 12 title game Saturday in Norman and the Big Ten title game is a slog, maybe – just maybe – the committee goes a different direction. Right now, there are only three teams that should be in over the Broncos: Alabama, Clemson, and Washington.

Wisconsin has more experience on this stage as it is making its fourth Big Ten title game appearance in six seasons.

The second scenario where the Big Ten could get two teams in the playoff is Washington dropping the Pac-12 title game to Colorado, which is honestly the most likely scenario of them all. Every game counts. And also since the playoff is limited to four, numerous other bowl games – and there are many other – they’re going to have good teams in them, and they’ll be more significant. No. 6 Wisconsin is the Rose Bowl.

Western Michigan began the week at No. 17 and was able to stay undefeated by outlasting OH, 29-23, in the Mid-American Conference title game Friday night. To wit: this is the November that Navy had: 211 points scored, 1,686 rushing yards, two punts. It never has happened and probably will not this year, but just imagine the impact they have had on the NFL. Yes, Penn State, the team the Wolverines beat by 39 points earlier this season.

In its 12-year deal with the ACC, the Orange Bowl agreed to take the highest-ranked ACC team in the country that doesn’t play in the College Football Playoff.

Could make for some interesting television.