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CFB Playoff Committee explains Penn State football’s ranking

By Justin Grasso

STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 05: Micah Parsons #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with Jesse Luketa #40 of the Penn State Nittany Lions after recording a sack against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at Beaver Stadium on October 5, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 05: Micah Parsons #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with Jesse Luketa #40 of the Penn State Nittany Lions after recording a sack against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at Beaver Stadium on October 5, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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Penn State football was fortunate enough to land No. 4 on the CFB Playoff rankings. How did they get the edge over Clemson?

On Tuesday, the first set of College Football Playoff Rankings were announced, and we knew Penn State football was going to be relevant this season. Considering their undefeated record, Penn State is viewed as the fifth-best team in the NCAA right now, according to the AP poll.

Seeing as though Penn State is ranked fifth, we weren’t going to be too shocked if they were barely edged out of a spot within the top four, which would make them playoff relevant. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case, though.

As it turns out, the committee of 13, containing former coaches, journalists, directors, players were quite fond of the Nittany Lions’ impressive start to the season. For that, they decided to make Penn State playoff relevant for the first week of the rankings, placing them fourth.

Many weren’t shocked to see Penn State within the top five, but finding out they are edging out programs such as Clemson and Georgia had some people questioning the thought process. So following the announcement, College Football Playoff Selection Committee chairman, Rob Mullens discussed the thought process and how everything came about.

Thoughts on Penn State’s placement

“Penn State is No. 4 because of its strong play,” Mullens said during a conference call. “Penn State’s strength of schedule gave it an edge over an impressive Clemson, which we ranked No. 5.” Considering Clemson won the National Championship last season, some find it shocking they aren’t cracking a berth right now.

However, it’s hard to deny what Penn State has done at this point. With wins over two Top-25 teams in Iowa and Michigan, the Nittany Lions are surely no joke.

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Granted, they do have their struggles, but they have proven that they can fight through adversity and are battle-tested. Moving forward, Penn State will face another handful of tough teams. Obviously, the results during that stretch can make or break State, but so far, they are on the correct path of potentially making it to the National Championship.

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