Following the release of the final College Football Playoff rankings earlier in the week, Penn State had good reason to feel confident about its chances of playing in a New Years Six bowl game this bowl season. And on Friday night, the path to the Rose Bowl became much easier to navigate with Utah pulling the upset of No. 4 USC in the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas. All that stands in the way of a Penn State Rose Bowl berth is a Purdue upset of Michigan in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday night in Indianapolis.
Utah’s victory over the Trojans on Friday night booked the Utes for a return trip to Pasadena to represent the Pac-12 as the conference champion. But the result carries more weight in the College Football Playoff picture as USC now has two losses without a conference title. It is widely expected that No. 5 Ohio State, who lost last week to No. 2 Michigan, will be able to take advantage of the loss by USC to slide back into the top four of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s final rankings on Sunday afternoon. And with Ohio State in the playoff, that makes things much more clear for the Rose Bowl.
Rather than have to oblige to any request by Ohio State to not participate in the Rose Bowl, thus going with the next best option in Penn State, the Rose Bowl’s spot for the Big Ten will only come down to two choices; Penn State as the highest-ranked team available from the Big Ten or Purdue as a Big Ten champion.
The Rose Bowl’s Big Ten spot goes to the conference champion first, regardless of the rankings. So a win by Purdue over Michigan would send the Boilermakers to the Rose Bowl for the first time since having Drew Brees as a quarterback. But if the Big Ten champion is in the College Football Playoff in any season the Rose Bowl is not hosting a playoff game, then the Rose Bowl goes with the next best available option. And if Michigan and Ohio State are in the playoff, then it’s the Rose Bowl for Penn State.
Purdue would throw a monster wrench into all of the plans for Penn State, and it would likely bump Penn State out of the New Years Six entirely. The Orange Bowl spot would be occupied by either Alabama or Tennessee, and USC would probably still be ranked ahead of Penn State to be in line for an at-large spot in the Cotton Bowl.
Of course, if Penn State does end up in the Rose Bowl, they will be facing a very tough and physical Utah program that has been one of the most consistent teams in the conference since they have joined the conference.
So Penn State fans will be shouting two words they don’t ordinarily do on Saturday night. Go Blue!
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