This could end poorly.
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There were few surprises in this week's College Football Playoff rankings, but we did learn one thing: the Playoff committee is prepared for a scenario that would likely bring heavy changes to the Playoffs of the future.
Kirk Herbstreit first suggested that Michigan should be in if Washington loses to Colorado this weekend, and his suggestion got anted up by Playoff chairman Kirby Hocutt later during ESPN's rankings show. Here's what Hocutt had to say:
"I will tell you that the separation by the selection committee members between No. 4 Washington and No. 5 Michigan is very, very small."
Um... what?
Hocutt said earlier in the show that Penn State was no where close to Ohio State in the rankings, despite the Nittany Lions beating the Buckeyes earlier in the season. What that could possibly mean is that we are left with following scenario this weekend:
- No. 8 Colorado beats No. 4 Washington
- No. 7 Penn State beats No. 6 Wisconsin
- No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Clemson both win their conference title games
In that scenario, it appears that Hocutt is saying that Michigan, not Penn State or Colorado, would be the final team into the College Football Playoff. Think about that for a second: Penn State would be the winner of the Big Ten, but they would be passed by two teams in their own division.
Heck, if it is as close as Hocutt keeps saying, does Washington even get in if they beat Colorado? What if the committee deems their win unimpressive?
Hocutt: Committee spent almost 2 hours (!) the last 2 days on Washington vs. Michigan. "A lot of committee members were really struggling."
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 30, 2016
That seems absurd, and you know the Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences would be exceptionally upset if their champions are left out for two teams from the same conference that didn't even win that conference.
Expect chaos, folks.
