In 2016, college football went back to the future. Or, should we say, dipped into the past.
The winner of the Big Ten will play in the Rose Bowl.
This might frustrate the Penn State fans who watched their team upend Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game Saturday night after trailing 28-7. If it helps, the Nittany Lions players themselves said they'd have no issue with being sent to Pasadena rather than a College Football Playoff semifinal.
"It's win-win, best of both worlds," said receiver Saeed Blacknail, who caught two touchdown catches against the Badgers.
The Big Ten would love to have gotten two teams in the playoff. Instead Ohio State will represent the league, playing Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. Alabama will take on Washington, and probably crush Washington, in the Peach Bowl. Both games are on New Year's Eve.
The winners meet Jan. 9 in Tampa.
If it's any consolation to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, the Big Ten had the two best also-rans. Penn State finished fifth in the rankings and Michigan was sixth.
Critics will point out that Penn State beat Ohio State on the field. True. But every Saturday counts, or at least almost every Saturday (three of the selected teams lost a game).
To take the example to the extreme, last year Nebraska beat Michigan State. Doesn't mean that the Huskers were a better team than the Spartans or more deserving of a playoff berth.
The CFP committee had it relatively easy this year. It had a first-and-goal from the 3 and got in the end zone.
Some Penn Staters will feel they got snubbed, but maybe in time they'll see that a trip to Pasadena can be better than a date with Alabama.
"Our guys would have loved to have been in the playoffs," Penn State coach James Franklin said on ESPN, "but we're also appreciative of the opportunities we have."
