University football screenings: Penn State benefits from West Virginia defeat

Alabama, No. 1, had its worst half of the season on Saturday, but it was not playing an opponent able to capitalize on that. The Crimson Tide was tied with The Citadel 10-10 at halftime before fleeing the Bulldogs after the break. Nevertheless, it was amusing to think of the possibility of the biggest surprise in the history of college football for a few minutes.

The defeat of No. 9 West Virginia in the state of Oklahoma was a real surprise. This has not only eliminated the Mountaineers from the New Year's Bowl screenings, but it also means that they will need a major upheaval to even have the chance to play in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma # 6 is now assured of a spot in this showdown and will be the seeded if it wins West Virginia next week. The Mountaineers can only enter if they beat the Sooners and Texas, number 15, loses to Kansas. Texas is the seed if it wins and Oklahoma loses.

Number 14, Penn State, replaces West Virginia in the Peach Bowl screening.

The other conference league matches are contested for the most part. Two are settled. The SEC match between Alabama and 5th Georgia has been in place for two weeks. Pitt clinched a spot for the ACC title against No. 3 Clemson on Saturday with a win over Wake Forest.

A team is in place in four other conferences and a winning draw for the other venue this weekend is presented below after the final screenings of the bowl.

2019 College Football Playoff

Selection Committee bowl games

Click here for the rest of the screenings of the Jerry Palm University Football Cup.

In the Big Ten, Northwestern No. 22 waits for the winner of the battle between No. 4 Michigan and No. 10 Ohio State. The No. 19 Utah won its place in the Pac 12 championship and will face the winner of the Apple Cup between Washington No. 18 and No. 8 Washington State. Fresno State will take the road to play Utah State No. 23 winner against No. 25 Boise State for the Mountain West title. The West AAC division could end in a tie to four if Memphis beats Houston, but Memphis will win any tie break, so it's a win-win-all match also, and this team will face 11th place. UCF.

A question I hear often is whether I am sure the Big Ten will be in the taxpayer 's bowl this season. I can not be sure. The Music City and TaxSlayer bowls are shared by the Big Ten and ACC, with each bowl receiving each conference three times in six years. It's the fifth year of this deal with a perfect 2-2 division for the first four years. I have the Big Ten in TaxSlayer this year as it has been to Music City in each of the past two seasons. The decision is not taken until the bowl selection weekend.

Again this week, I plan that the 78 slot machines in the bowl will consist of teams of 6 to 6 or more, and I still have three teams that have nowhere to go. The teams I plan to be eligible for in the bowl, but left out, are still the same – Coastal Carolina, Louisiana-Monroe and Wyoming. The bowl's eligibility monitoring is live.