Tyler Trumbauer
Despite upsetting #3 Ohio State and winning the Big Ten Championship, Penn State was not selected for the 2016 College Football Playoff. The Nittany Lions were fifth in the final rankings, which were released Sunday afternoon.
#CFBPlayoff Selection Day:
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Washington
5. Penn State
6. Michigan pic.twitter.com/zSopZBmm3P— CFBPlayoff (@CFBPlayoff) December 4, 2016
PSU jumped two spots in this week’s rankings as the Nittany Lions were seventh in last week’s rankings before defeating Wisconsin on Saturday night, who was 6th. Michigan was 5th a week ago, but was idle this past weekend, and fell to 6th. The Wolverines defeated the Nittany Lions earlier this season.
Despite being on the outside looking in, the Nittany Lions still are heading to a big-time bowl game. ESPN’s bowl projections, which were updated late Saturday night after yesterday’s slate of games, has Penn State heading to the Rose Bowl against USC on Jan. 2, not playing in the College Football Playoff. The official word will come out soon.