College football playoffs set with little drama
This weekend’s conference championships ended with no major upsets. The season’s final College Football Playoff rankings offered no surprises, either.
The four teams atop the playoff selection committee’s rankings last week remained the same when the field was revealed Sunday afternoon, resulting in No. 1 Alabama facing No. 4 Washington in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and No. 2 Clemson playing No. 3 Ohio State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
The winners of the Dec. 31 semifinals will meet for the national championship on Jan. 9 in Tampa.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide (13-0) remain the only team to have made the playoff every season since it was implemented two years ago, claiming the top seed for the second time after destroying Florida, 54-16, for their third straight SEC title.
Clemson (12-1) swapped spots with idle Ohio State (11-1) after defeating Virginia Tech, 42-35, for the ACC title to make its second straight playoff appearance, while the Buckeyes — the 2014 national champions — became the first team in the playoff era to reach the semifinals without winning their conference championship. Washington (12-1) claimed the PAC-12 title with a 41-10 win over Colorado.
Ohio State was initially listed as a 3-point favorite over Clemson, while Alabama opened as a two-touchdown favorite over Washington.
“This is the biggest challenge we’ve ever had,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said. “Fortunately, the Seahawks are in town. Maybe they’ll scrimmage us to get us ready for [Alabama].”
The final spot came down to the Huskies and Big Ten champion Penn State (11-2) — which ended its season on a nine-game winning streak — and “was a challenging conversation,” according to committee chairman Kirby Hocutt, but Washington was selected because “the selection committee believes they’re a better football team.”
Penn State, which finished ranked fifth, had gained momentum after its 21-point comeback against Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game Saturday night — becoming champion of a league with four of the top eight-ranked teams in the nation — but a defeat to four-loss Pittsburgh and a 39-point thrashing by Michigan kept them out. Though Ohio State lost to Penn State, the Buckeyes impressed the committee with the most quality wins in the country, defeating Michigan after winning on the road against Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
The strongest case against the Huskies, which achieved its first double-digit win season in 16 years, was that they had the second-lowest non-conference strength of schedule in the nation — Rutgers, Idaho and FCS’ Portland State — and was ultimately the only reason a debate over the final slot even took place.
“Had Washington had a stronger strength of schedule, I do not think that conversation would have been as difficult,” Hocutt said.
Following Penn State’s firstever conference championship game win, coach James Franklin said he believed his team had done enough to make up for their slow start to the season — “It’s on you now, committee” — but he said he respected the final decision.
“You can make arguments for and against so many teams,” Franklin said. “Our guys would’ve loved to be in the playoff, but we’re excited for the Rose Bowl.”
The Nittany Lions will play No. 9 USC in Pasadena, earning the nod after jumping past No. 6 Michigan, which will face No. 11 Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
Big 12 champion Oklahoma finished seventh, setting up a Sugar Bowl showdown with No. 14 Auburn, while No. 8 Wisconsin will meet No. 15 Western Michigan (13-0) — the only undefeated team in the country other than Alabama — in the Cotton Bowl.