Oh, how the tides have turned.
To think that five years ago, Penn State was debating on whether to travel to Dallas to play in the TicketCity Bowl, where the team would be met with protesters. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon when the Nittany Lions, fresh off a comeback for the ages in taking down Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title, when the Penn State faithful was up in arms – rightfully so – because their team finished ranked No. 5 in the College Football Playoff.
The top four go to the playoff, meaning Penn State again was left at the altar with a chance to play for a national title. Instead, Penn State will travel west to play USC in the Rose Bowl.
To think the program would have rebounded this quickly from the Jerry Sandusky child sexual assault fallout is nothing short of improbable. On its third head coach in five years, a postseason ban, scholarship reductions and the thought that the program may receive the NCAA’s “death penalty,” Penn State has quietly chugged along outside of the national spotlight, for better or worse.
That all changed when the Nittany Lions took down Ohio State in October to continue a win streak that has now reached nine straight games after a 2-2 start.
Now, in December 2016, Penn State fans are feeling snubbed about their invite to “The Granddaddy of Them All,” which is still the most-famous of the entire bowl slate. At what point do Penn Staters cross the line between fandom and being just plain greedy?
I mean, the Rose Bowl is a heck of a consolation prize and the Nittany Lions should enter the game as favorites against USC. Nick Saban’s No. 1 Alabama juggernaut would have been a tough task in the Peach Bowl, but they’re now 11-1 Washington’s problem.
Penn State also lost two games, albeit both to top-25 teams, while the top four teams include three with one loss and Saban’s undefeated Crimson Tide. Maybe the Rose Bowl is the correct spot for this team.
And maybe it’s not.
I wrote in this column last week I thought Penn State would be on the outside looking in at the playoff, and unfortunately for them and many fans in this area, that prediction rang true. To use the old “proof is in the pudding” saying, here’s the proof: Penn State won their division, won arguably the nation’s toughest conference (four Big Ten teams are ranked in the CFP’s top eight) and beat a playoff team with their 24-21 win over Ohio State.
Sure, the two losses loom large, but in the two-year existence of the CFP, a conference championship was a requisite for the playoff. Instead, a team like Ohio State – which is probably deserving of its spot – nonetheless benefitted by not playing, which meant they couldn’t lose and probably wouldn’t budge from their No. 2 spot.
When college football scrapped the Bowl Championship Series and its computers to go with a selection committee, the thinking was that the human element would be better served than what some computers reading numbers could produce. The lack of a clear path to the playoff for teams might be the CFP’s downfall – is a conference championship weighted? Or strength of schedule? Or avoiding late-season losses?
The roar from Happy Valley will ultimately quell if the Nittany Lions fall in the Rose Bowl. But should Penn State beat USC and Ohio State advances to the national title game, don’t expect Nittany Lion fans to quiet down anytime soon.
After all, the consolation invite to the Rose Bowl is just that: a consolation.
BASKETBALL SEASON HAS RETURNED
Friday is the opening date for winter sports teams, meaning a heavy slate of tip-off basketball and wrestling tournaments. In basketball particularly, the 2016-17 season brings with it the first year of the PIAA’s new classifications.
In football, a few teams were shuffled around. Not so much in basketball, where the Class A and AA will look vastly different this year. Class A, which has been dominated in the last five years by Ridgway and Elk Catholic, will be without the Elkers, who move to AA.
As far as Bradford High goes for this weekend, the Owls travel to Redbank Valley for a tip-off tournament, while the Lady Owls will be in Hollidaysburg. On the wrestling mat, Bradford heads to the Hickory tournament, while the swimmers open next Tuesday at Warren.
