Notre Dame debate, as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned, may have been answered Tuesday should both teams win challenging road games this weekend. WCHL’s coverage of that game begins at 1:30 with Countdown to Kickoff with Ron Stutts.
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Oklahoma fans, you can stop worrying about that loss to Texas. “Our guys clearly understand what they have to do in their preparation and then their performance on Saturday”.
The selection committee is composed of 12 members, including Jeff Long, Barry Alvarez, Mike Gould, Kirby Hocutt, Tom Jernstedt, Bobby Johnson, Tom Osborne, Dan Radakovich, Condoleeza Rice, Mike Tranghese, Steve Wieberg and Tyrone Willingham.
It is not the same situation. What did the committee get right, and what did it mess up? The Big 12 is now using head-to-head tiebreakers. However, the Tar Heels, who haven’t lost since September 3, could cancel Clemson’s parade by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Baylor’s weak nonconference schedule also left it susceptible to being slighted by the committee last season. The Sooners have no such problem, with a win against Tennessee (7-4) on the road to their credit. It’s just their playoff chances may have taken a hit with Oklahoma State losing. The Notre Dame slight can be rationalized on some levels, given its sloppy, painful-to-watch victory over Boston College at iconic Fenway Park; but the snub of 11-0 Iowa makes little sense, given how the BC Eagles rank as one of the lowest-scoring team among FBS schools.
Navy’s only loss is to Notre Dame, and the Midshipmen would remain a factor if they win at Houston on Friday and win the American Athletic Conference championship game before finishing against Army. Washington State (8-3, Pac 12) 21.
Meanwhile, the remaining games that compose the New Year’s Six access bowl games – Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Peach – will select the highest ranked remaining teams that fill their criteria.
Unless the Irish can do to the Cardinal what the Buckeyes did to the Badgers, it would be hard for the committee to explain reversing course on the Sooners at this point. A win at Stanford would be the Irish’s biggest win for the season. The committee was supposed to start from scratch each and every time they meet, so just because a team is in one spot and wins, that doesn’t guarantee a move up.
MI moved from 12th to 10th after their win against Penn State.
If MI State somehow loses to Penn State this weekend – Connor Cook’s status is in doubt – then the victor of the Ohio State/Michigan game would advance to the conference championship. In other words, Notre Dame doesn’t have Texas to potentially hold over Oklahoma’s head any longer. The Hawkeyes finish the regular season at Nebraska on Saturday before, as Big Ten West champions, an appearance in the league’s championship game.
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Maybe so. But Iowa jumped ahead of Notre Dame, too, and the Hawkeyes have beaten Minnesota and Purdue the last two weeks.
