as being hypocrites for devaluing conference championship given that Penn State did beat Ohio State. As far as the Committee's explanation for claiming that Ohio State is not close to Penn State; I remind myself that the Playoff (like the BCS) is a private organization. Even though the Committee claims it wants the 4 "best" teams, I suspect TV ratings and $$$$ has some influence on (at least some) of the decisions it makes. Penn State is still a polarizing program for a lot of people, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Committee excluded Penn State from the Playoffs out of fear that enough people decide to not watch whatever game involving Penn State as a form of protest. Call me cynical (and you may not be wrong), but I see the Playoff as really being no different than the BCA/BCS in terms of the politics especially since the Playoff is a private entity and operates outside the NCAA's domain (for the most part).

If the Committee thinks more money could be made by expanding the Playoff to 8 teams, then excluding Ohio State and the controversy that it would create from it could be the perfect catalyst to expand the Playoff. It may even stabilize the Big XII since all 5 power conferences (and Notre Dame when eligible) would receive an automatic bid.