Expert picks: Why we have Penn State in the College Football Playoff

CBS Sports writers and editors place our votes for the top four of the 2016 College Football Playoff

The college football regular season came to a conclusion Saturday night, and with it, arguments for the 2016 College Football Playoff only heated up.

Though most expect the top four to remain the same -- at least in terms of which teams make it to the semifinals -- many of us here at CBS Sports (five of nine writers and editors) believe Penn State should be one of those four teams.

The argument is rather simple. In fact, it's so simple that it really seems silly to us to argue otherwise.

Oh sure, we understand why you think Ohio State is the better team. After all, the Buckeyes did win a national title two years ago and are perennially one of the best teams in the country. Plus, preseason polls told you that Ohio State was going to be really good, while nobody saw Penn State coming.

There's also the fact that Ohio State is 11-1, while Penn State is 11-2. And while that second loss should matter, we just think there are a few things that should matter more.

First and foremost, we aren't so willing to just look past the fact that Ohio State's lone loss came to Penn State. It just makes sense to us that the College Football Playoff was implemented so that the sport could finally settle its championship on the field, so to completely ignore results of an actual game played on the field between these two schools would seem disingenuous.

And did we mention that Penn State won the Big Ten championship? That's the very same conference that is home to Ohio State. In fact, Penn State had the opportunity to play for the Big Ten title because it won the very same division it shares with Ohio State. It just seems somewhat illogical that a team that couldn't win its own conference should be allowed to play for a national title over the team that did.

Maybe you disagree, and if you do, we understand. Many of us just think you're wrong.

Here is how each of us here at CBS Sports would vote if we were a member of the CFP Selection Committee.

Dennis Dodd's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Jon Solomon's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Jerry Palm's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Chip Patterson's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Tom Fornelli's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Robby Kalland's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Ben Kercheval's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Adam Silverstein's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4

Brandon Wise's College Football Playoff
1	2	3	4