Penn State got snubbed. There are no two ways about it.

One of the most polarizing schools, you either love the Nittany Lions or you hate them. You are either in the cult, or infuriated by it. And the recent sexual harassment scandal at the school only embellished that contrast.

But the committee has made it clear they value conference championships. That is likely the reason a Big 12 team has not made the college football playoff yet; the Big 12 Conference does not have a conference championship game and hinders the committee's ability to see who the best team of the conference is.

Penn State won their conference championship.

And that is nothing to scoff at. This isn't the MAC or Conference USA. This is the Big Ten.

May I remind you of other teams in the Big Ten? Ohio State (who was the lone Big Ten team to make the playoff). Michigan. Wisconsin. Nebraska.

Penn State won the championship over these teams.

Penn State also beat Ohio State, 24-21 back in October. Even though OSU may be 11-1 and Penn State finished 11-2, the Nittany Lions won. That is all there is to it. The Big Ten trophy is going to State College, PA - not Ann Arbor, Michigan or Columbus, Ohio or Madison, Wisconsin - and for that PSU is worthy of the college football playoff.

Is this payback for the scandal Penn State endured and the tarnish they put on the name of Nittany Lion football and college football in general?

That is up for you to decide. But there should be no payback necessary: the dedicated athletes of this team had zero to do with the inappropriate behaviors of coaches, administrators and grown men a few years ago. Plus the punishments for the scandal were already levied against the school. Nothing more is necessary.

In the end, Penn State got snubbed. They are more than deserving of a spot in this year's college football playoff. The best they can do now is show the world how good they truly are at the Rose Bowl against USC: a primetime and major bowl game in which they will be rooted heavily against in a hostile environment as the Rose Bowl is held just 14 miles from USC campus.