Urban Meyer Thinks Penn State Should Have Been in the Playoff, Which is Very Weird

Clemson, Alabama, and Washington were all no-brainers to make the College Football Playoff when selection day came last December. The final spot came down to Penn State and Ohio State. At the time, Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer — for obvious reasons — didn’t campaign particularly hard for the Nittany Lions to get in and play for the championship

This choice paid off as the committee opted to take Ohio State despite the fact the weren’t conference champions and lost the head-to-head matchup between the two. His team rewarded that selection by getting dismantled in Arizona by Clemson.

Now, nine months later, Meyer is going on the record to say Penn State “absolutely” belonged in the playoff.

Urban Meyer told me he understands Penn State's frustration from a year ago. "Should they have belonged in that playoff? Absolutely."

— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) August 18, 2017

Thinking face emoji goes here.

This leads to the question of which team Meyer believes didn’t merit inclusion. If it’s not his, then he has a very unique view on the world. Alabama, Clemson, and Washington were all 12-1 and conference crown holders. If the committee were operating with any responsibility, they wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of putting in two Big Ten teams at the expense of Washington.

If there were any Big Ten homers advocating such a foursome they were both few and far between and rightly considered to be operating out of extreme bias.

The truth of the matter is that Ohio State was lucky to be included in the four and the committee’s decision looked pretty bad come New Year’s Eve as Clemson ran all over Meyer’s team. That Meyer would come out with this statement now — when it doesn’t matter — is patently ridiculous.

He didn’t elaborate on what he meant but it’s very hard to believe he would openly admit Penn State deserved to be in over Ohio State. But that is the only situation that makes any sense. I suppose there’s always a chance he’s using some gamesmanship, but that doesn’t really click either.

James Franklin and Penn State already believe they were shafted. They saw what Clemson did to Ohio State and played in a very competitive Rose Bowl. So it seems like there’s no real method to Meyer’s madness. It’s just pure madness.

from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/2wgMiBA