INDIANAPOLIS — Head-to-head. Big Ten East champ. Big Ten champion.
No. 7 Penn State has all those things in their corner after pulling out a 38-31 victory against No. 6 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions have the head-to-head drop on No. 2 Ohio State, a division title and a Big Ten championship in hand. Yet Penn State (11-2) has one more loss than the Buckeyes (11-1) and a resume that might not match. The dramatic comeback victory from a 28-7 deficit against the Badgers might not close that considerable gap with Ohio State either.
Still, the Nittany Lions forced at least a conversation after winning the toughest conference in the FBS. Any Big Ten champion deserves to be heard out. Will that be enough to make the Nittany Lions the comeback playoff team; the first two-loss team to crack the CFP?
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Should it be? Yes. Will it be? Not unless the emotion of that moment takes over Sunday morning with the committee. The Nittany Lions made their case in an emotional victory where the passion resonated with each-and-every play on the field and tweet off it. How much of that emotion will seize the moment within that room?
That conversation started well before Trace McSorley gave the Nittany Lions a 35-31 lead with 13:41 left in the quarter against Wisconsin.
No. 1 Alabama (13-0) is off limits. That is all.
How deep will the Big Ten other discussions be Sunday morning?
After all, No. 2 Ohio State (11-1) sat in the clubhouse and would be the first non-conference champion to make the playoff. How much different is that than letting a two-loss team in?
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The Buckeyes beat Wisconsin in Madison. And Oklahoma in Norman. And Michigan in double-overtime. The Buckeyes’ resume – while lacking a Big Ten championship – is simply too good to pass on unless the committee wakes up Sunday morning and decides conference championships weigh a lot more than they did on, say, last Tuesday. Penn State’s conference champion in particular, which coach James Franklin said “has to carry weight” earlier in the week.
No. 3 Clemson (12-1) would probably be a brief discussion. Both teams lost to Pittsburgh, but the Tigers have the benefit of playing the College Football Playoff last season.
Should No. 4 Washington (12-1) be a little nervous? After all, the Huskies’ margin with No. 5 Michigan was “razor thin” last week. Why wouldn’t the Nittany Lions’ be in the same boat with the Huskies – two big-and-physical teams that won their conference championships. Would the Badgers’ two-loss Big Ten title weigh more than the Huskies one-loss Pac-12 title? That’s a discussion the committee will come across.
Michigan (10-2) is out of the way despite the 49-10 regular-season victory against Penn State in the regular season. Stranger things have happened, but if the committee chose now as the right time for a third-place team in the Big Ten East Division to leap into the playoff, then that would be an all timer.
The rest comes off emotion.
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There’s no question Penn State is the “hot team.” Forget about three-loss USC. This is the team worth talking about. The Nittany Lions’ season turned after that 24-21 victory against Ohio State in Happy Valley on Oct. 22.
There’s also no question McSorley is the “hot quarterback.” He caught fire in the second half and passed for 384 yards and four TDs. Penn State trailed 28-7 before he rattled off three second-half TDs passes and emerged as the emotional hero in an emotional moment for a program that had been to hell and back since 2011.
The Nittany Lions are back in that discussion thanks to a fourth-and-1 stop. Penn State’s Grant Haley – the same player who ran that blocked field goal back for a touchdown against Ohio State – tackled Wisconsin’s Corey Clement short of a first down.
Head-to-head. Big Ten East champ. Big Ten champion. Penn State fans chanted “We want Bama” in the aftermath.
Should they get that chance? It’s a hell of a discussion now.
That’s the question the committee must answer.
