Oklahoma moved into the prized top four this week in the College Football Playoff standings. That sets the table for a dramatic final two weekends for the top contenders.
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Center Jacoby Boren said Ohio State’s best game offensively was Barrett’s first start, a 49-7 win against Rutgers on October 24. Suddenly the committee is forced to re-evaluate which two-loss team is most deserving of a playoff spot. When they need to stop the offense, they stop them, and that’s what this defense has been able to do. If Florida builds up their resume with a win over Florida State and can upset the Tide in competitive fashion, Alabama can still be near the top of the standings as Florida enters the mix. Clemson and Alabama nearly surely would have to lose.
If No. 3 Oklahoma loses to No. 11 Oklahoma State… Ohio State now sits at No. 8 in the polls with a matchup against No. 10 MI looming in Ann Arbor. If both win, barring an unlikely blowout, seems unlikely that one victory would be deemed so much better than the other. Player Who Matters If Notre Dame is to remain a one-loss team, it needs more from Kizer, especially in the red zone.
There’s still the matter of Bedlam and any lingering committee bias against the Big 12 for its lack of a conference championship game, cited as a prime factor for last year’s snub.
Hours later, Oklahoma (No. 3 in this week’s ranking) defeated TCU (now No. 19) to move within a rivalry win against Oklahoma State of the Big 12 Conference championship.
Notre Dame has not won at Stanford Stadium since 2007.
Help needed: All right, Baylor fans.
Beat 19th-ranked TCU in Fort Worth on Friday and Texas next week, and the Bears could find themselves in an interesting position.
Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish exits the field after the game … “They [Oklahoma] need to play well, they need to win their game and add to their final body of work against Oklahoma State”.
#11 Oklahoma State: Beat Oklahoma this weekend.
Again, none of this matters if the Spartans can’t beat Penn State this weekend and defeat the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship.
There is no way to predict how a football team will react to a devastating loss.
Stanford is No. 9 ahead of its home showdown Saturday against Notre Dame, which fell from fourth to sixth after a three-point win over a three-win Boston College team at Fenway Park. Ole Miss won’t crack the top four, while even a one-loss Florida may not have done enough to warrant inclusion. Baylor would be the Big 12 champ by virtue of its win over Oklahoma State. That’s the biggest obstacle, but far from the only one.
Selection committee chairman Jeff Long said the Sooners “were solidly in control of that game in the committee’s view” when Mayfield left.
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“Our downhill run game with tempo is something we’re good at, but it’s not something you can do all the time”, he said. Florida (CFP: No. 12) 10. Big Ten Network analyst Stanley Jackson cited an MSU schedule that also includes a win over Air Force (8-3), which will play San Diego State in the Mountain West title game. Losing to FSU and then beating ‘Bama would certainly do the trick.
