Needing one more domino to fall their way to get to the Rose Bowl, Penn State may have gotten exactly what to needed Saturday night to start planning a trip to Pasadena. With the door swung wide open for Ohio State to crash the College Football Playoff with upsets in the Pac-12 championship game and Big 12 championship game, and with reports suggesting Ohio State would ask to not play in the Rose Bowl if that scenario was in play, the only thing blocking Penn State’s path to the Rose Bowl was Purdue winning the Big Ten championship game against Michigan. And while things looked a little tight at halftime, Michigan did its part to put the Boilermakers away in the second half and clinched a second consecutive Big Ten title.
And that means things are coming up roses for the Nittany Lions.
At 13-0 and as the Big Ten champion, Michigan will lock down the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff behind defending national champion and 13-0 SEC champion Georgia. All that is left to sort through is the third and fourth seeds in this year’s College Football Playoff. It is expected Ohio State will be one of them after No. 4 USC lost its second game of the season in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night, thus opening the door for Ohio State to the playoff and Penn State’s potential path to the Rose Bowl.
No. 3 TCU was upset by Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game in overtime for its first loss of the season. The Horned Frogs should be in the playoff anyway though with a solid record against top 25 teams this season, including one over the Wildcats during the regular season.
Bowl selections will be announced Sunday afternoon. Once the College Football Playoff field is locked in, then the rest of the New Years Six bowls can be officially unveiled. It is expected Penn State will be facing Pac-12 champion Utah in the Rose Bowl when all is said and done.
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