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A HOUSE DIVIDED The Big Ten's divisional structure is one factor that may be keeping it out of the CFP t first, James Franklin's com- ments were relatively subtle. Joining reporters for two tele- conferences following the announce- ment that his team would be facing Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, the Penn State head coach noted the difficulty of playing in the Big Ten's East Division. During the recently concluded regular season, the Nittany Lions lost to Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan, all of which are division opponents and two of which are currently ranked among the top seven teams in the College Football Playoff standings. Calling the Big Ten "brutal," Franklin said Penn State's division is particularly challenging, requiring that the Lions be ready to face big-time opponents "week in and week out throughout an entire season." Then he discussed playing nine conference games and the Big Ten's rule against playing opponents from the Football Championship Subdivision – a prohibition that was only recently over- turned. Clearly, Franklin has ideas about the playoff, the Big Ten's approach toward it, the alignment of teams in the confer- ence's two divisions, and Penn State's place in the system that determines who gets to play for the national champi- onship. Franklin's list of fundamental incon- sistencies must be addressed in order for the CFP to find any semblance of equity. When the fifth edition of the playoff begins in a few days, the Big Ten will not be represented. This will be the third year in a row in which the winner of the league's championship game has been excluded from the four-team field. In 2016, Franklin's Nittany Lions were passed over in favor of Ohio State de- spite beating Wisconsin, 38-31, for the league title. The past two years, the Buckeyes have been champs but have not been deemed good enough to war- rant a berth in the CFP. Franklin's Citrus Bowl teleconferences took place the day after the conference championship games, and he admitted that he hadn't had a lot of time to gather his thoughts about the results. But he wasn't shy about acknowledging the ob- vious. Considering that his division is among the best in college football, and that its members play nine conference games, and that those members were only recently given permission to sched- ule FCS opponents, the Big Ten is at a clear disadvantage. "I think obviously as a conference we have to look at what we're doing," he said. "We have to look at our model and see if it makes sense, especially our side of the conference. We're beating each other up week in and week out." The Big Ten plays nine conference games, as do the Big 12 and Pac-12, but the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences play only eight. That dis- crepancy gives SEC and ACC teams a bit more flexibility as they work to arrange their schedules to their liking. The CFP selection committee doesn't penalize those teams for their scheduling prac- tices, nor does it reward Big Ten teams for playing an extra conference game. "Other conferences play eight games and there's consideration and talk about putting two teams from their conference in the playoff, while we're playing nine and have been left out now for three years," Franklin said. "I don't think there's any doubt that we have to at least have the conversation: Are we doing what's best for our conference schools to give us the best chance to [make] the playoffs? "Obviously, if you play eight confer- ence games, then each school has a little bit more ability to schedule what they JUDGMENT CALL A STRIVING FOR CONSISTENCY Franklin said he would like to see all teams in the Power Five play the same number of confer- ence games in order to make it easier to pick the field for the College Football Playoff. The SEC and ACC play eight league games per year, while the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine. Photo by Steve Manuel

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