For a full play-by-play account of the Fiesta Bowl, read the game recap.
There was much to be discussed when the College Football Playoff bracket first came out. Penn State, as some said, was rewarded for losing the Big Ten Championship game, while Oregon got punished. As a result, “semifinal or bust” was bandied about by the people who set the narrative. The accomplishments of both of Penn State’s opponents were put into question, and, an alternate reality was created where teams that lost the ReliaQuest Bowl and the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl would have served as better opponents to the Nittany Lions.