HUSKIES AND LIONS WILL GET THE INVITE TO PLAYOFF
December 3rd, 2016
The 2016 conference championship games have unfolded before our eyes with little in the way of surprises. Coming into the weekend the college football playoff committee had the final four set as Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Washington respectively. Waiting in the wings were Penn State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Colorado all having possible opportunities to still slide into one of the top 4 playoff slots.
Here is the scenario: If Alabama and Clemson win their conference championship games on Saturday, they’re in. Alabama dominated Florida 54-16 and Clemson narrowly survived against Virginia Tech 42-35. The playroom for everyone else is far less tidy. Penn State represents an existential threat to Ohio State’s national championship aspirations. The Nittany Lions were the only team to beat the Buckeyes this season and Penn State just defeated Wisconsin 38-31 to become the Big Ten Champions. So when the committee convenes in their great hall to deliberate their fate, they must apply these factors. Penn State is a conference champion and head-to-head Penn State won the game against Ohio State. Is Ohio State one of the best teams in the country? Yes. However, they did not even win their own division. Oops. So when you compare Penn State to Ohio State’s resume for entry into the playoff, one must come to the correct conclusion that Penn State is selected as the victor.
But wait, there’s more…….. If one insists that Penn State as the Big Ten Champions must be in, it does not immediately disqualify Ohio State from still being included. If you were hoping that would be cut and dry, I send my regrets. Now I am sure that both the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions would have loved to see Washington lose to Colorado in the PAC-12 Championship on Friday. Then they both would have had a very good chance of being included. However, the Huskies logged a strong performance with a 41-10 victory. So U-Dub only has one loss to a now top 10 ranked USC team, is the PAC-12 champ, and finished the regular season beating 2 ranked teams in a row. Their resume is now complete. Best to go ahead and punch their ticket for the playoff train.
So we are now back to the dilemma between Ohio State and Penn State. If the playoff committee selects Ohio State it will be due to bias based on past performance and on the record of only 1 loss during the season. This still could transpire, but it would set a disturbing precedence that if you were one of the best teams over the last few years then we’ll just go ahead and give it to you anyway. If FBS college football wants to continue approaching an operationalized procedure for selecting playoff teams, then we must insist on using criteria such as head-to-head outcome and championships, especially when the 2 teams are in the same division.
So the top 5 teams at the end of the regular season will look like this:
- 1. Alabama
- 2. Clemson
- 3. Washington
- 4. Penn State
- 5. Ohio State
Unfortunately, this means the Buckeyes will be outside with their hands on the glass steaming up the window while the other 4 teams are having their dance party. Buckeye fans, you may begin lobbying for the 8 team playoff now……..