FWIW. Neither story is confirmed...mostly a composite of chatter from the Talking Heads and scribblers of the press, to include the newspaper in Knoxville, which is speculating that Tennessee may end up in the Cotton when the dust settles.
There's a strong consensus that Georgia and Michigan are in regardless of what happens Saturday. TCU is less certain, but most commentators seem to feel that unless they lose badly to Kansas State, the Frogs have also punched their ticket. That would leave a USC loss as Ohio State's only hope. Hard to see that happening...even though the oddsmakers see it as a close game.
Re the Rose, the thinking in some quarters is that two years in a row of hosting an Ohio State team that got bounced out of the playoff doesn't move the needle much in terms of interest or excitement. Whereas Penn State has the ranking and is on the upswing...with a large, enthusiastic fan base to boot. In that scenario, the Buckeyes would go to the Orange, which is what they might prefer anyway.
There's a strong consensus that Georgia and Michigan are in regardless of what happens Saturday. TCU is less certain, but most commentators seem to feel that unless they lose badly to Kansas State, the Frogs have also punched their ticket. That would leave a USC loss as Ohio State's only hope. Hard to see that happening...even though the oddsmakers see it as a close game.
Re the Rose, the thinking in some quarters is that two years in a row of hosting an Ohio State team that got bounced out of the playoff doesn't move the needle much in terms of interest or excitement. Whereas Penn State has the ranking and is on the upswing...with a large, enthusiastic fan base to boot. In that scenario, the Buckeyes would go to the Orange, which is what they might prefer anyway.
