By Jordan Hansen
On Tuesday evening, the College Football Playoff Committee released its last rankings before the bowls are decided.
The Big Ten, as it has over the last couple weeks, fared well. After Ohio State beat Michigan in double overtime, it stayed at No. 2 in the rankings and is all but ensured to get a playoff spot.
From there, however, things get real interesting.
Michigan came in at No. 5, Wisconsin at No. 6, and Penn State at No. 7. And remember, neither Michigan nor Ohio State will play for the conference championship.
Penn State and Wisconsin will. But the winner might not get a chance to go to the College Football Playoffs. A very different situation from last year, when there was no way the winner of the Iowa-Michigan State conference title game would not make the four-team finale.
“I don’t really have an opinion,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said on a Sunday teleconference when asked whether the Big Ten champion should be in the playoff. “We’re focused on Wisconsin and excited about this opportunity. After that, whatever the powers that be decide, [we] will be happy and excited for whatever that opportunity is.”
Right now, the playoffs are perhaps as murky as they have been since their inception two years ago. Alabama, as the No. 1 ranked team, should have no trouble with Florida in the SEC title game and, barring a legitimate miracle from the Gators, will be in.
Ohio State is the next team that should be in, with the only mark against it being a single 3-point loss to Penn State. That’s the thing keeping the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship. They are, however, one of three Power 5 teams with one loss — No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Washington are the others.
Clemson gets No. 23 Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship, which it will probably beat. If it doesn’t, there should be a spot open, but we’ll get to that scenario in a second. Washington will face No. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship.
Now, if the Buffaloes can somehow beat Washington, there’s a real strong argument they belongs in the playoffs. Then again, the winner of the Big Ten would have a pretty strong argument about getting two teams in the playoffs, too.
Franklin was asked about how much being the champion of the conference should weigh into the decision of what teams should be in the playoff. Remember, the Playoff Committee has said it will take conference championships won into deep consideration when making the picks for the final four teams.
“I think whenever you have the opportunity to go out again and play a great team, obviously, if you’re playing in the Big Ten Championship, both teams deserve to be there, and it does carry weight,” Franklin said. “I think [conference] championships have to carry a lot of weight.”
There’s a very likely possibility a conference champion could get left out of the playoff, which would be something of a travesty. The decisions the Playoff Committee will make this season are going to have a huge impact on the way things are done following this season.
A really good team is going to get left out this year; it’s just a matter of who it’s going to be.
But, for right now, the focus for the Big Ten is on the championship. If either team wins by enough points, or in a convincing enough fashion, it may help tip the scales.
