by Allen Kellogg

Lubbock, Texas

One of the biggest controversies of the 2016 college football season was Ohio State going to the CFB playoff over Big 10 champions Penn State. Penn State beat Ohio State head to head 24-21 back in October, but was left out of the final four. Ohio State ended up being shut out by Clemson 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl. While Penn State would go to the Rose Bowl and fall to The Darnold and USC 52-49



The vote end up being much closer than was previously believed. Texas Tech Athletic Director, Kirby Hocutt, left Penn State out of his Top 25 entirely which dropped the Nittnay Lions from 4th in rankings to 5th. Hocutt had Ohio State in the number one spot which allowed the Buckeyes to jump from 5th to 3rd in the final ranking.



Hocutt said he left Penn State off the ballot because they were, “Yellow-Bellied Cowards” who refused to cooperate with the Red Raiders to in order to schedule a home and home series. He went on to say that any team that lost to Pitt had no place in the CFB playoff and that he voted Ohio State number one the because the Buckeyes wear the color red.



Experts are unsure if Penn State would have be able to beat future National Champions Clemson, but they are in unanimous agreement that Penn State would have at least scored a point in the Fiesta Bowl. Simulations show that Penn State would have given the Clemson defense a much tougher test and a more exciting game for fans.



The release of Hocutt’s ballot casts doubt on the entire CFB playoff ranking system. It highlights the irregular voting criteria and inherent biases of the playoff committee. While raising skepticism that having a committee made up of twelve individuals is not the best way to determine who are the best teams in the nation. The committee members are not required to make their decisions, criteria, and ballots public. It begs the question, wouldn’t a system of computers, incapable of bias, be a better form of ranking teams?



“The Rose Bowl really showed how terrible a team Penn State is particularly on the defensive side of the ball,” Hocutt said, “Penn State plays literally zero defense. They ain’t shit. GooooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooooOOOOooooo Raiders! GUNS UP PUSSY!”