My College Football Dream, Updated Again

Things begin falling into place.  Michigan lost...twice.  Louisville dropped like a rock, losing not only to Houston but also to Kentucky.  And Penn State won the Big Ten East, and is about to face Wisconsin for the conference title.

And in the next-to-last CFP rankings, Penn State is still at #7.  So how does the dream go now?  Let me tell you.

All that remain are the conference title games, plus the unofficial Oklahoma-Oklahoma State contest.  Oklahoma wins that game, but strength of schedule and a less-than-impressive Big 12 will not be enough to get them in.  Washington beats Colorado, which virtually guarantees their inclusion in the playoff as the Pac-12 champions.  Alabama beats Florida, which draws little but yawns outside SEC country.

It's the ACC game that shocks everyone.  Virginia Tech upsets Clemson by 20 on a neutral field.

Penn State defeats Wisconsin with yet another blowout second half, 35-17.

The final CFP ratings come out with Alabama at #1, Washington at #2, Ohio State at #3, and Penn State at #4.  Michigan feels scorned at #5, but, hey, they lost two of their last three games and finished third in the Big Ten East.  Oklahoma complains, Clemson mutters, and a bunch of two-loss teams grouse.

The #1-vs.-#4 game has Alabama as a 9-point favorite, but when the game goes to the half at 14-10 in Alabama's favor, everybody wonders if Penn State will have yet another one of their patented second-half scoring binges.  And so they do:  The final score is a shocking 38-17, punctuated by three second-half Alabama turnovers.  Ohio State defeats Washington in the other semifinal, setting up a rematch of a memorable midseason game.

Ohio State fans are forced to watch the field goal block for a solid week, over and over and over....

And since it's my dream, Penn State will win the final, too, by a score of 24-21.

National Champions.