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The Big Ten might have stirred up what should have been calm CFP waters

Penn State's Big Ten Championship win might give the College Football Playoff Committee something to think about. (AP)
Penn State’s Big Ten Championship win might give the College Football Playoff Committee something to think about. (AP)

Championship Saturday was all we hoped it could be.

Despite Alabama’s dismantling of Florida in the SEC title game — we all expected that anyway — the championship games were close, entertaining and added some intrigue to what should have been an anticlimactic College Football Playoff announcement on Sunday.

However, the Big Ten did do its part to give the committee something to think about as it deliberates its top four.

No. 7 Penn State’s dramatic 38-31 come-from-behind win against No. 6 Wisconsin creates an interesting conundrum. The Nittany Lions are the only team to which Ohio State lost. It’s also the champion of what many believe is the best conference in the country. Yet, it’s possible that Penn State could finish No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings while Ohio State moves on as the only non-conference champion to ever play in the CFP.

This is also going on the assumption that Washington gets in, but that’s not guaranteed either. Washington dominated Colorado to win the Pac-12 title, but the College Football Playoff committee has consistently complained about the strength of the Huskies’ nonconference schedule. Still, Washington’s only loss is to a surging USC team whereas both Penn State and even No. 5 Michigan have losses to teams that aren’t as highly rated.

We could play out different scenarios, including one where Michigan gets in, all night long, but the easiest solution is for the committee to stick with the teams that got them to this weekend.

Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Washington.

None of the teams in the latest top four lost. Two had convincing wins, one had a close win and the other got to watch it all from the couch. But the one constant is that none of these teams did anything to hurt their standing on Saturday and therefore none of them deserves to be dropped out.

It’s simple and uncomplicated. And while we know simple and uncomplicated isn’t really the committee’s style, what’s the point is ranking prior to championship week if you’re just going to disregard those rankings anyway?

In the end, Sunday could be an interesting, but if the committee does it right, it should be an uninteresting day.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!