Joel Klatt says Penn State is ‘in’ College Football Playoff already

Penn State will play for the second Big Ten championship in program history in the Big Ten championship game era, but do the Nittany Lions need a win to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff? According to Joel Klatt of Fox Sports, the answer is no. Klatt says Penn State has already locked in a spot in this year’s playoff, which expands from four to 12 teams, regardless of what goes down against Oregon in this week’s Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.

Oregon will come into the Big Ten championship game as the only undefeated team left standing in the country. Even if the Ducks lose to Penn State, it is essentially guaranteed a 12-1 Oregon team at this point will be in the College Football Playoff.

Penn State is likely in a favorable position with just one regular season loss ina. year with most teams in playoff contention already owning multiple losses. A second loss on a neutral field to the nation’s top-ranked team should not harm them too much, but seeding would be interesting to see unfold.

But Klatt says both Penn State and Oregon are in. And they are not alone.

Other teams Klatt says have booked a spot in this year’s playoff field include Texas, Notre Dame, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio State. Klatt then reserves a spot in the playoff for the ACC champion (Clemson or SMU), the Big 12 champion (Arizona State or Iowa State), and whichever team claims the top highest-ranked Group of Five conference championship (which boils down to Boise State, UNLV, Tulane, or Army).

That leaves Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina all battling for one final bubble spot. South Carolina has been the hottest team of the bunch but two of its three losses came against Alabama and Ole Miss. Alabama and Ole Miss each own a victory over Georgia for the best win of the bunch.

The company line from the College…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/joel-klatt-says-penn-state-222821402.html

Author : Nittany Lions Wire

Publish date : 2024-12-03 22:28:00

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