Penn State is playing in a New Year’s Six bowl this year, but it was hoping for a possible trip to Pasadena.

With the way the final College Football Playoff rankings shook out, Wisconsin remained at No.8, and the Badgers wound up in the Rose Bowl against Oregon. That meant Penn State, which finished a No. 10, was headed to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against Group of Five opponent Memphis.

In an interview with ESPN following the reveal of the final playoff rankings, playoff selection committee chairman Rob Mullens explained why the Badgers finished ahead of the Nittany Lions, despite losing to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. The Badgers held their own against the Buckeyes, so the committee thought they didn’t deserve to drop out of the top 10.

“Yeah, obviously Wisconsin won their division,” Mullens said. “Two really good teams. Both have quality wins against ranked opponents. As you've seen, when Wisconsin had the big win, they jumped over, and I think we felt that with the way they performed in the Big Ten Conference championship, they deserved to stay ahead.”

Ultimately, the Badgers’ resume gave it enough juice to finish above the Nittany Lions in the final rankings. Wisconsin notched wins over three teams — Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota — that finished in the top 20 of the playoff rankings. Between that and their first half against Ohio State, Wisconsin narrowly beat out Penn State for the Rose Bowl position.

“Well, I think what really carried the day is they've got three wins against top-25 teams,” Mullens said. “The No. 14 Michigan, No. 16 Iowa, and No. 18 Minnesota. You know, and then there's lots of common opponents because in the same league. I think that's where it really carried today. Obviously the way they played last night, particularly in the first half, was something that was noticed by the committee. But in the end, their three wins against CFP top-25 wins really impressed the committee.”

James Franklin was asked about the potential disappointment among the fans for missing out on the Rose Bowl, but the Penn State head coach says he and his team are excited to go to the Cotton Bowl. Franklin knows the fan base will jump on board and support the Nittany Lions in big numbers down in Arlington, Texas.

“I think it's going to be a tremendous opportunity for our fans, not only in Dallas and in Texas specifically, but also across the country,” Franklin said. “It's going to be fantastic. As you know, there's always that percentage of fans that maybe they'll have different opinions on social media and they can be vocal, but I know the majority — the great, the great majority — of our fans couldn't be more excited about this opportunity. And I know our team feels the same way.”

Penn State and Memphis will kick off from AT&T Stadium at 12:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 28.