Penn State Football: Was committee right with No. 4 ranking?

For the first time in school history, Penn State football is ranked in the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings. Was it the right spot?

Man, Clemson fans are angry.

Ohio State tops the first College Football Playoff rankings with LSU, Alabama, Penn State and Clemson following in that order. All five teams are undefeated, but many believe Clemson deserves to be in the fourth spot over Penn State due to their 23-game win streak, and their national championship last season.

Clemson, however, hasn’t passed the eye test as well as the other four elite unbeatens. Ohio State, LSU and Alabama have been incredibly dominant from start to finish in almost every game this season. Penn State has been in two close games, but both were against ranked opponents, and it maintained control of the game despite a relatively close final score in both.

Clemson’s defense has looked great at times, but also hasn’t been as dominant as years passed. Offensively, Travis Etienne remains one of the best running backs in the nation, but once-Heisman hopeful quarterback Trevor Lawrence has taken a massive step in the wrong direction this season. He isn’t having a bad season by any means, but his 20 passing touchdowns versus eight interceptions is anything but awe-inspiring. Especially when you compare his numbers against Justin Fields, Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Sean Clifford.

Meanwhile, Clemson has had some trouble. It narrowly escaped Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C., with a win. The Tigers were outplayed from start to finish, but lack of execution down the stretch from a mediocre Tar Heel team gave them the victory.

The other main issue with Clemson is their strength of schedule, and strength of record, in comparison to the other four elite unbeatens. Clemson’s strength of schedule is an embarrassing 42nd in the nation, and their FPI strength of record is eighth in the nation.

Clemson’s “marquee win” early in the season was a home victory against Texas A&M which has shown since then that it isn’t actually a marquee win at all. That remains the only ranked team Clemson has played thus far this season, and Texas A&M’s 6-3 record, with all six of their wins coming against unranked opponents, doesn’t help the Tigers. Texas A&M beat two SEC bottom-dwellers, Ole Miss and Arkansas, by one score. Texas A&M also got ran off the field against Alabama, and also lost at home to Auburn.

Meanwhile, Penn State hasn’t been perfect either. The Nittany Lions have dominated every team they’ve played other than Iowa and Michigan, but it’s clear the committee respects the Hawkeyes and Wolverines enough not to penalize Penn State for those close games.

Penn State’s strength of schedule is seventh in the nation, and their strength of record is second in the nation. Compared to Clemson’s 42nd and eighth spots in those rankings, that’s quite a difference.

Statistically, Penn State has an elite defense. The Nittany Lions’ defense ranks in the top five nationally in almost every single major statistical category. The only issue you can claim Penn State has is offensive consistency. The Nittany Lions have clearly shown their ability to score in bunches, but the team has had periods of games where the offensive went stagnant, mainly due to the play-calling by offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne.

I believe Penn State deserves the fourth spot over Clemson due to their strength of schedule. I also believe Clemson has been put at the fifth spot due to a poor performance against a mediocre North Carolina football team.

At the end of the day, if Clemsons wins out and Penn State loses to Ohio State in a couple weeks, Clemson will get in over Penn State. The Nittany Lions have to hope they can take care of business, and the committee picks them over a one-loss LSU or Alabama team.