Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Washington Narrowly Snags Final CFP Spot

Washington Narrowly Snags Final CFP Spot

The nation watched on Sunday morning to see who was “in”.  On this, the third year of the college football playoff, the committee faced their toughest decision on who would round out the top four.

The top three were fairly self-explanatory for the committee.  No. 1 Alabama (13-0) was the clear cut best team in college football, and received the top seed.  There was a bit of a shuffle between the next two teams, as No. 2 Clemson (12-1) and No. 3 Ohio State (11-1) switched places in the rankings, and will play each other in the second semi-final held at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.  There was then just one spot remaining to fill the 2016-17 playoffs.  

The controversy came down to three teams: Washington (12-1), Penn State (11-2), and Michigan (10-2).  Washington had the best record of the three, and won their conference championship in a blowout over Colorado.  However, some argued that their strength of schedule was in question, especially compared to the other two teams in consideration, who each play in the best conference in the country.  Penn State won the Big Ten Conference Championship with an incredible comeback over Wisconsin, but two losses including an early one to Pittsburgh seemed to be the one that held them back.  Michigan passed the eye test better than all three, but two losses and no appearance in the conference championship ultimately left them out of the top 4.  

So the committee’s decision came down to number of losses, and who they thought was the most deserving team of those three teams in contention.  The No. 4 seed in this year’s playoff is the Washington Huskies.  They will play Alabama in the Peach Bowl for the first semi-final, a matchup that Huskies head coach Chris Petersen admits will be a tall task to win.  “It’ll be a tremendous challenge. It’ll certainly be the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced as football coaches and players,” Petersen said. “Nothing but the utmost respect for those guys,” said Petersen.  

The semi-finals of the playoffs will be on December 31st.  Washington-Alabama will be played in Atlanta at 2 PM, and Ohio State-Clemson will be at 6 PM.  Winners of these games will meet in Tampa for the national championship on January 9th.