The College Football Playoff committee selected Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Washington, expectedly choosing the only four Power 5 conference teams without multiple losses and leaving out surging Penn State despite the Nittany Lions’ victory in Saturday night’s Big Ten championship.

In the semifinals on Dec. 31, No. 1 Alabama will play No. 4 Washington in Atlanta and No. 2 Clemson will play No. 3 Ohio State in Glendale, Arizona. The winners will play Jan. 9 for the national title in Tampa.

The committee made no significant changes to the top four of its penultimate rankings after three members of the incumbent foursome prevailed in conference title games this weekend and the fourth, Ohio State, sat idle. As a result, the Buckeyes dropped one slot to No. 3, while the Tigers rose to No. 2, but those two teams will still meet in the semis.

Penn State gave the committee something to ponder late Saturday night, when it erased a 28-7 deficit to topple then-No. 6 Wisconsin, 38-31, in the Big Ten title game. The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten, regarded this season as the nation’s toughest league, and finished its season with a nine-game winning streak, which included a victory over Ohio State in October.

But the Buckeyes became the first team not to win its conference, nor its division, to make the College Football Playoff. Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said the committee arrived at the Buckeyes through statistical analysis, both in regard to the strength of schedules and on-field performance. Penn State finished No. 5, in front of Michigan at No. 6 and a sliver away from a shot at the title.

“Conference championships are hard to win, and we saw some great games yesterday,” Hocutt said Sunday. “As a selection committee, we come back to our charge, our mission. And that is to select the four very best teams in college football.”

It was a victory, then, for both Ohio State and fans who prefer audacious September schedules and a nuanced approach to picking top teams.

Back in the season’s third week, Ohio State clobbered eventual Big 12 champion Oklahoma, 45-24, in Norman.

The victory buoyed the Buckeyes’ resume all season and may have provided the ultimate edge over the Nittany Lions. Ohio State also suffered one fewer loss and defeated Michigan, which annihilated Penn State, 49-10, before Penn State won nine in a row.

Beyond the simple fact it had two losses compared to one for other contenders, Penn State’s exclusion could be seen as a referendum on the imprecise meaning of league championships in an era of bloated conferences.

Between 2010 and 2014, the Big Ten swelled from 11 teams to 14, following the model other leagues used to expand their reach into more television markets, with the aim of negotiating more lucrative rights deals.

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