How the Rose Bowl's 'cluster' clause could keep Tennessee out of the Orange Bowl
Most bowl projections this week had Tennessee slotted against Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 30 in Miami. A couple others had the Vols facing Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl on December 31 in New Orleans.
But Ohio State, and Rose Bowl bylaws, could change things for Josh Heupel land his team.
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit on Tuesday, during the reveal show for the updated College Football Top 25, called Penn State “a viable” candidate for The Rose Bowl, with Ohio State perhaps not being sent to Pasadena for a second straight season.
The Rose Bowl bylaws state that, should a Big Ten or Pac-12 team go to the College Football Playoff, “the Tournament of Roses will traditionally select the next-highest CFP-ranked team from that conference. There is, however, a caveat to that clause in the contract.”
Up Next: Vols await bowl selection announcement on Sunday
If the next-highest ranked team is in a “cluster” of teams — “there is another team or teams from the same conference ranked within several spots of each other” — The Rose Bowl will select the team from the cluster that creates the best possible match up for The Rose Bowl.
According to the bylaws, the factors taken into account by The Rose Bowl include the last time a team played in the game, head-to-head results, regular-season schedule, overall record, opponents played, past playoff or bowl appearances and performance and historical matchups, in no order.
Should the Buckeyes land elsewhere in the New Years Six bowl games, it would be the Orange Bowl, which has tie-ins with the ACC and the highest-ranked non-champion from either the SEC or the Big Ten, or Notre Dame.
Ohio State (11-1) was ranked No. 5 in the new CFP Top 25 on Tuesday, ahead of No. 6 Alabama (10-2) and No. 7 Tennessee (10-2). The Sugar Bowl selects the highest-ranked SEC team that is outside of the playoff.
Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl are options for SEC in New Years Six games
The Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl are the three possible destinations for SEC teams outside of the playoff. Ohio State avoiding The Rose Bowl and going to the Orange Bowl could mean Tennessee being sent to the Cotton Bowl, with Penn State taking The Rose Bowl slot.
“It should be noted,” the bylaws state, “that it is the strong preference of the Tournament of Roses, Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences, that the highest-ranked available team in each conference be selected as the replacement team.”
Ohio State has appeared in two of the last four Rose Bowls, beating Washington in 2019 and Utah a year ago. Penn State last appeared in the Rose Bowl in 2017.
Penn State (10-2), with its two losses this season coming against No. 2 Michigan and No. 5 Ohio State, is ranked No. 8 in this week’s CFP Top 25. Utah is the next highest-ranked Pac-12 team at No. 11.
No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 USC are currently projected to make the College Football Playoff.
USC or No. 3 TCU losing on Saturday — TCU plays Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game while USC plays Utah in the Pac-12 championship game — would likely result in Ohio State making the College Football Playoff field and opening the Orange Bowl back up for Tennessee.
