CFP Committee Chair Explains OSU, Penn State, Notre Dame Seeding in Playoff Bracket

As is the case every year, there was a fair bit of controversy after the College Football Playoff committee set the field for the first 12-team playoff on Sunday.

One discussion among fans was the seeding of Penn State, Ohio State and Notre Dame. Penn State earned the No. 6 seed despite losing to Ohio State, which is the No. 8 seed. Between them sits Notre Dame at No. 7.

On The Rich Eisen Show, College Football Playoff committee chair Warde Manuel broke down the thought process behind the seeding, saying the committee favored the Nittany Lions for their performance against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship. He also pointed to the Buckeyes' loss to unranked Michigan and said Ohio State didn't have the chance to move ahead of Notre Dame since it didn't compete in a conference championship.

"Ohio State had an unranked loss in their last game," Manuel said (1:30 mark). "And with the performance of Penn State's season as well as how they performed in the last game that they played, the committee, in terms of how we voted it, felt that Penn State was slightly higher ranked than Ohio State. Ohio State was not in the championship game, so they couldn't move ahead of Notre Dame and we just didn't feel that Penn State should move behind Ohio State."

The seeding of Penn State, Notre Dame and Ohio State isn't entirely consequential as all three teams will still get the chance to host, but the Nittany Lions did get the more favorable draw compared to the other two squads.

Penn State will face SMU, which snuck into the 11-seed over Alabama in the first round. Given the Mustangs haven't faced many top teams this year, the Nittany Lions should be able to get past them. From there, they would take on Boise State, which earned an auto-bye after winning the Mountain West Championship.

Notre Dame will have an in-state matchup as it takes on No. 10 Indiana. As impressive as a season as the Hoosiers have had, they haven't picked up any wins over ranked teams and will have a tall task against the Fighting Irish. A win for Notre Dame would get them a matchup with Georgia.

Ohio State likely got the toughest draw as it takes on No. 9 Tennessee. The Buckeyes and Vols have similar resumes and there was even some debate about Tennessee being ranked ahead of Ohio State after its loss to Michigan.

Nonetheless, the Buckeyes will get to host a CFP game, making picking up a win over Tennessee much easier than if they had to travel to Neyland Stadium. If Ohio State can get past the Vols, it will take on top-seeded Oregon, which beat the Buckeyes in their matchup earlier this season.