Committee picks Alabama, Washington, Ohio State and Clemson

AP ^ | Dec. 4, 2016 | RALPH D. RUSSO

[PROCON]

Alabama will play Washington and Ohio State is set to face Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

The selection committee stayed with the same top four Sunday as it had going into championship weekend, leaving out No. 5 Penn State even though the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten title game and beat Ohio State earlier in the season.

[Texas Eagle]

Tell me about it. More often than not, it’s me.

[blam]

"As a Washington fan, I look forward to playing a great Alabama team."

I expect you'll have to get past Ohio to do so.

- Roll Tide -

[morphing libertarian]

Since Washington plays Alabama in the first round why would they have to get past Ohio State to do so?

[lodi90]

Outside of Wisconsin, Penn state, Ohio State and Michigan the Big 10 was garbage. 4 9-10 loss teams in the Big 10. Mediocre teams like Minnesota and Iowa won 5-6 conference games.

[jospehm20]

Yep.

[PROCON]

Alabama plays Washington in the Peach Bowl, Dec. 31, 2016.

Go Dawgs!

[dfwgator]

A Conference Champion should be automatically awarded a certain number of points that is added to their total.

[dfwgator]

Why bother with Conference Championship games then? They are about as useless as Conference Basketball Tournaments.

[randita]

I am a Clemson alum. I watch every game with my eyes half covered and breath held. They are taking years off my life.

I know a rabid OSU fan who says exactly the same thing.

[Az Joe]

Ok, how about a 6 team playoff with the top 2 teams getting a bye the first week?

[dfwgator]

Ohio State knocked off more top ten teams than Penn State

And Hillary won the Popular Vote.

[blam]

"Since Washington plays Alabama in the first round why would they have to get past Ohio State to do so?"

Okay. My mistake.

I thought Alabama played Clemson first.

[PROCON]

I agree a 4 team playoff isn’t representative of all the great teams. We’ll be debating this forever.

[bobk333]

You can’t hold Washington’s non-conference schedule against them when the SEC plays cup cakes in November. That’s an extra bye week, IMO. Pac-12 does not do that.

The SEC, ACC and the Big-10 all play four non-conference games, while the Pac-12 plays only three. They usually play one decent team and three cupcakes. Alabama, for example, played Kent State, Chatanooga and Western Kentucky.

[dfwgator]

That could work. Automatically include the Power Five conference champions plus the best at-large. So that would have meant the following:

Alabama and Clemson, as the top-two rated Conference Champions would get the bye. Then your playoffs would have been

#3 Washington vs #6 Ohio State
#4 Penn State vs #5 Oklahoma

[jch10]

You are kidding, right?

[dfwgator]

That’s ok. The debate part is what differentiates College Football from the Pros.

I like the fact that every game matters, and it isn’t just a matter of who gets hot at the right time.

I think there’s a good chance that if Oklahoma or USC were in the playoffs, they may very well have won it.

[orlop9]

Bama's non-conference schedule included USC.

At least the OSU vs Clemson game ought to be worth watching. Roll Tide

[ChessExpert]

“Ohio State should be out. Penn State won the Big Ten and beat Ohio State.”

If I have this right, both teams are in the Big Ten, and Penn State won the Big Ten. If so, then it seems to me you are right.

[dfwgator]

At least the OSU vs Clemson game ought to be worth watching. Roll Tide

Hopefully no players will be punched this time. ;)