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Kirk Herbstreit spotlights Penn State as a possible Rose Bowl team even if Ohio State misses Playoff

Sydney Hunte

By Sydney Hunte

Published:

Kirk Herbstreit brought up the possibility of Penn State being the B1G’s representative in the Rose Bowl Game, even if Ohio State is the conference’s top-ranked team not in the College Football Playoff. And there’s a relatively simple explanation as to how that might play out.

Ohio State was ranked No. 5 in Tuesday’s CFP Top 25 rankings, while Penn State came in at No. 8. That said, Herbstreit noted that since the Buckeyes went to Pasadena last year, the Tournament of Roses Committee might be hesitant to put them back in it for a 2nd straight season. That’s despite Ohio State defeating Utah 48-45 in last year’s edition.

PennLive Nittany Lions beat writer Johnny McGonigal posted a screenshot of the Rose Bowl’s selection process in a tweet after the CFP rankings were released. While “traditionally” the top-ranked B1G non-Playoff team would qualify, Penn State could be selected due to a “cluster situation”, meaning that if a group of B1G teams were separated in the rankings by just a few spots, the Tournament of Roses Committee could base their selection on various things, including “the last time a team played in the Rose Bowl Game”.

We won’t know for sure until bowl games are released on Sunday. But the door’s certainly open for the Nittany Lions’ first trip to the Rose Bowl Game since 2017.

Sydney Hunte