It was one of the reasons the committee selected Ohio State (11-1) and pitted them against No. 2 Clemson (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl at 7 p.m. Dec. 31. Penn State’s 38-31 victory Saturday over Wisconsin wasn’t enough.
“I would tell you that Penn State significantly elevated themselves in our conversation after their performance last night,” said playoff committee chairman Kirby Hocutt on Sunday. “Having a chance to watch, with the other members of the selection committee, that second-half performance, incredibly impressed and significantly elevated them into our conversations. (There was) a lot of discussion and detail on who was deserving of that No. 4 spot. I had said I think a number of weeks earlier that in the eyes of this selection committee, Ohio State was a better football team than Penn State. Obviously our rankings continued to reflect that analysis and that decision.”
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Penn State (11-2) was also considered against Washington (12-1), which earned the No. 4 ranking and the final spot in the playoff. The Huskies will play Alabama (13-0) in the other national semifinal, the Peach Bowl at 3 p.m. Dec. 31 in Atlanta.
“The mission of the selection committee is to get the four very best teams in the country,” Hocutt said. “There are many factors that go into that discussion. As we looked at, both are conference champions. One is a one-loss team. The other is a two-loss team. We spent considerable time talking about and analyzing those particular losses. Washington’s one loss came against Southern California. Outside of that loss, Washington was very impressive with what they did on the field each and every week. Penn State had two losses, one to an 8-4 team (Pittsburgh), and then they were non-competitive in their other loss (49-10 to Michigan).”
Ohio State ranked No. 2 in the last two playoff rankings and dropped to No. 3 in the final ranking. Their spot wasn’t assured going into the weekend, Hocutt said.
“I would not classify their position after last week’s ranking as solidified in the top four,” Hocutt said. “You just never know what can happen on any given weekend in the college football season. That was the case Friday night and Saturday as we watched games. Saying that, the selection committee believes that Ohio State has put together one of the best resumes of this college football season. Three wins over playoff top-10 teams, including what possibly will be defined as the game of the year, the victory they had over Michigan. They played one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Their only loss was by a close margin, three points, to a top-10 team. Their body of work we believed was deserving of this No. 3 spot, and we believed that they are unequivocally one of the best college football teams in the country this season.”
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