Just about two weeks ago, I wrote a post titled, "The College Football Playoff Picture Isn't As Confusing As You Think." I consider myself an honorable guy, and I'm here to tell you that I was very, very wrong. The College Football Playoff picture is giving me some PTSD from the Biology For Non-Science Majors course that I earned a barely-passing grade in. Just couldn't figure it out. The playoff landscape is essentially the same as Westworld at this point. I watch, I enjoy, the games/episode ends, and I feel dumb and confused.
We've been presented with a scenario that even the legendary Madame Zeroni couldn't advise a solution to. This mass hysteria was most significantly triggered by Saturday's classic of Michigan vs. Ohio State. Due to Ohio State's controversial victory, Penn State has earned a spot in the B1G Championship Game against the Wisconsin Badgers.
In regards to the controversy in Columbus, I'm on Team "Barrett was stopped short on fourth down." It's a shame that the outcome had to come down to something so highly questioned. If they had ruled it short to begin with, the replay didn't show enough evidence to overturn it. But unfortunately for Michigan, that was the same case for overturning the first down. Personally, I thought the visual displayed that Barrett was stopped short, but I think I just convinced myself of that because I didn't want to see Urban Meyer come out on top.
Having said all of that, I thought it was incredibly lame of Harbaugh to blame the officiating for the loss. Want to know what actually caused the Wolverines to lose the game? The three turnovers. Simple as that. When you come into Columbus for a game of this magnitude, you need to play mistake-free football, NOT mistake-three football. They were in complete control of the game until that pick-six. Not to mention that Curtis Samuel's wild third down gain, which set up Barrett's controversial first down, should've been stopped behind the line of scrimmage. So as much as I wanted to see Michigan in the playoff, they're not getting any sympathy from me.
So as I mentioned before, we'll have Wisconsin facing off against Penn State in the BIG 10 Championship, with both teams being 10-2. Penn State's victory over Ohio State is the reason we're not seeing the Buckeyes in this game, which is unfortunate for Ohio State since that was their lone loss. The Buckeyes could be considered a better team than the Nittany Lions in every sense, other than the major fact that Penn State beat them head-to-head. Often times we get stuck in debates of which team is better than which because we haven't had the opportunity to see them face off. But in this case, throw away everything else; Penn State beat Ohio State and are therefore a better team. It's hard to argue against that. So if Penn State ends up being the BIG 10 Champ, you kind of have to put them in. And if Wisconsin wins? I mean, I think they would deserve to be in the playoff, but I could see the committee then putting in Ohio State over them (which I would not want to see), as Wisconsin's two losses came to Michigan and the Buckeyes. But then again, the B1G Champ deserves a playoff spot in my mind, regardless of how that came to be. Which leads to more confusion/hypocrisy because Ohio State beat Wisconsin head-to-head, so it's really just a vicious cycle.
I think it's pretty damn safe to say that we'll be seeing Alabama and Clemson in the playoff, a foresight that depends on Clemson taking care of business as scheduled against Virginia Tech. However, Clemson has looked shaky in multiple games this season, including their loss to Pitt. But I think the Tigers have plenty of momentum after spanking in-state rival South Carolina last weekend, and that'll carry over into their matchup against an inferior team.
So let's say 'Bama and Clemson are both in, and the BIG 10 Champ gets in, who's the fourth team? I think if Washington wins against Colorado, they absolutely get the fourth playoff spot. But Colorado is a good team this year, and if they beat Washington....I just don't know. I think maybe at that point two B1G teams could get in? It'd probably have to be Penn State/Wisconsin and Ohio State.
What makes this playoff picture so confusing is the fact that we're not entirely sure how the committee will exactly select these teams. Some people feel that it should be four champions of their respective Power 5 Conferences. Some people feel that the eye test should rule all. Some believe that a fluke loss shouldn't heavily influence your chances. We've been presented with a scenario that will combine every facet of evaluation, and it's going to come down to what the committee finds to be the most important criteria. At this point, I'm lost. I truly am. But just for the hell of it, here's my prediction:
#1 Alabama (risky prediction) vs. #4 Wisconsin (because why not?)
#2 Clemson vs. #3 Washington
And for the record: NO. I refuse to believe Oklahoma will sneak in. And that is the only time I will address that subpar team from a subpar conference.
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