Penn State won the Big Ten East with a 33-point beatdown of Michigan State

Michigan’s game with Ohio State was a classic earlier in the day, and it could have been the first step in Big Ten chaos that would put the Buckeyes in the conference title.

But nobody told the Nittany Lions that they needed to be complicit in an Ohio State division coronation.

Penn State beat Michigan State 45-12 and is headed to Indianapolis.

Now things have the potential to get very, very weird as far as the Playoff is concerned.

Ohio State or Penn State is assured of a Playoff spot if it somehow gets into the championship game and then wins it. A two-loss Big Ten champion would be impossible for the committee to leave out this year. It’ll be fascinating to watch it unfold.

If the committee values conference championships as much as we think they do, Penn State should be good to go here with a spot as long as they can beat Wisconsin next week. And that is very far from a slam dunk because of the injury to RB Saquon Barkley.

If they can win however, what then will happen to the Buckeyes if everything stays equal, and Washington, Alabama and Clemson can win out and each become conference champions as well?

It will be an interesting test of how resumes are weighed as the Penn State team which beat Ohio State will then be pitted against each other in the boardroom to determine which team will head to a semifinal.

Nobody thought Penn State would be in this situation. Michigan blasted them 49-10, and it seemed like mediocrity was on the horizon with a 2-2 record in the bank at the time including a loss to Pitt earlier. But on the night they stopped OSU in their tracks, Penn State erased the doubts about whether or not James Franklin could win the big one, and the improbable march to the division title was on.

It is vindication for Franklin, who has consistently had to dodge the common refrain that he is only a recruiter, and not an all-around coach. Now he’s got his team in a conference title game with a playoff berth in reach.