Watch CBS News

Navy Loss Leaves Western Michigan Positioned For Cotton Bowl

RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer

The College Football Playoff selection committee will not have to wait for the Army-Navy game to complete the pairings for New Year's Six bowls after the Midshipmen lost to Temple in the American Athletic Conference championship game Saturday.

Unbeaten Western Michigan is positioned to be the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences when the committee releases its final rankings Sunday. That would send the 13th-ranked Broncos to the Cotton Bowl as the highest-ranked champion from the Group of Five.

[MORE: P.J. Fleck: We Deserve To Be In The Gosh Darn Cotton Bowl, Period]

Western Michigan was 17th in the last playoff rankings and Navy was 19th. If the Midshipmen had won, the committee would have had to consider holding the Cotton Bowl spot open until Navy completed its season against Army next Saturday.

Temple (10-3), which beat Navy 34-10, was not ranked.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.