Final 4 accepted, except in un Happy Valley

It appears the College Football Playoff selection committee got it right.

There were some who thought Penn State, the Big Ten champion, should have gotten the spot that went to No. 3 Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions beat the Buckeyes, but needed a huge dose of luck in getting the 24-21 victory. A blocked field goal was returned for a touchdown in the last five minutes to win.

Yet it was a win, at home in Happy Valley, which was anything but happy in the aftermath of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual assaults scandal.

James Franklin was hired to return Penn State to glory, a job many thought could take up to five years. But Franklin led the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 record in his third season and a spot in the Rose Bowl.

Franklin took on the challenge at Penn State after coaching Vanderbilt to a 24-15 record and three consecutive bowls. Franklin posted consecutive 7-6 seasons before this season’s breakthrough and has people in Happy Valley happy again, even if they feel a little snubbed after being left out of the playoff.

Bottom line was that despite beating Ohio State, the Nittany Lions lost to 8-4 Pitt 42-39 and were crushed by Michigan 49-10. The Rose Bowl, the Granddaddy of Them All, is a heck of a consolation prize.

Ohio State made the first playoffs, and it was amid controversy because it seemed to have stolen TCU’s spot when the Horned Frogs, without the benefit of a conference championship game, dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 and out of the playoffs.

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

They disposed of No. 1 seed Alabama in one semifinal and stormed by Oregon 42-20 for the title.

With a hint of irony, Clemson returns to the playoffs with one loss on its resume — also to Pitt, 43-42 — but won out including its conference championship game over Virginia Tech 42-35.

Virginia Tech, of course, will be the Arkansas Razorbacks’ opponent in the Belk Bowl and undoubtedly got all the bulletin board material it needed when a reported communication breakdown had Bret Bielema not including the Hokies in his last coach’s poll of the season.

Bielema apologized and it probably won’t be mentioned again — until Dec. 29, about an hour before the Hokies take the field against the Hogs.

The Hokies (9-4) went into the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game with losses to Tennessee (at Bristol Motor Speedway), at Syracuse and to Georgia Tech.

The Belk Bowl will be like a home game for the Hokies, with Charlotte 174 miles from Blacksburg, Va., a drive of less than 3 hours.

Arkansas’ Fayetteville campus is 938 miles from Charlotte, and it takes two driving days to get to the Belk Bowl. The Smoky Mountains are always a beautiful sight, not so much in December as October when the leaves are changing.

The drive would also take fans through two cities with bowl games: Memphis, where the Liberty Bowl opted to go out of the SEC and take Georgia Tech and TCU; and Nashville, where the Music City Bowl surprised no one by grabbing the Tennessee Volunteers.

Getting back to the playoffs, Pac-12 winner Washington belongs in the field, and someone had to play No. 1 seed Alabama, the only team to appear in all three playoffs.

Alabama and Mid-America Conference champ Western Michigan are the only undefeated Football Bowl Subdivision programs. Western Michigan, No. 15 in the final College Football Playoff poll, will play Wisconsin the Cotton Bowl.

Alabama, which outscored its 13 opponents by an average of 38.2-11.7, is the prohibitive favorite (the opening line is 14) and should be.

The Tide gave up 18 points in four games — all field goals — in November.

They have a freshman quarterback who has played like a senior since Day 1, and they have the master of disaster, Nick Saban, as head coach.

Yeah, the selection committee got it right.