Clemson and Alabama remained the top two teams in the third-to-last selection committee rankings. While this way of determining the best team in the land is better than having computers spit out just two teams, we are already seeing why even the new system is still not good enough.
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Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish exits the field after the game …
When Ohio State was unbeaten, it looked as if the final spot would come down to Notre Dame or the Big 12 champion. When comparing two teams, common opponents is one barometer.
Iowa fans? You now have the team to beat in the Big Ten. I don’t like Florida’s chances of getting there, but it’s hard to deny that they would jump people by closing with wins over both Florida State and Alabama, thus taking Alabama’s slot in the current top 4.
Iowa (11-0) moves up to the No. 4 spot following a 40-20 win over Purdue.
The committee is not hung up on the Sooners’ October loss to Texas.
The Spartans had one of the biggest wins of the year last Sunday at Ohio State so I am not exactly jumping up and down in outrage like I am over Oklahoma.
The Wolverines play Ohio State this week. Like once in a decade lucky. Honestly, I’m not sure how they are ranked this low and would have them above Ohio State, Stanford and MI. A member of the committee said that the Tigers are “solidly” the #1 team in the country. But we can’t rule them out at this point. I got pretty much all my mistakes out the first two years.
“There’s going to continue to be movement unless you’re Clemson and Alabama at the top”, Herbstreit said.
TCU (9-2) dipped to No. 19, down from No. 16 last week, with its loss to the Sooners. So clearly, the committee is losing its crush on Notre Dame.
To add to all the hype and national attention, ESPN “College GameDay” will be in Stillwater for the game and it will be Senior Night, which is always a festive and emotional event that gives the home team an extra boost of adrenaline, as if that is really necessary to get up for a rivalry game.
-LB Jaylon Smith collected 11 tackles last week against Boston College, reaching double digits in four of the last five games. I will also say that looking at something summarized generally like this insulates the bad results.
The race for entrance into this season’s College Football Playoff might be winding down, but that doesn’t mean the drama in each of the Power 5 conferences is finished. Neither did a 28-7 win against 3-8 Wake Forest the week before in which the Irish were outgained. In the football regular season, sometimes style points can matter. I think he steps up and carries the Buckeyes to victory. Notre Dame has beaten the committee’s No. 15 (Navy) and No. 25 (Temple). In recent weeks the Irish have been also allowing huge swaths of turf to open up for quarterback runs so keep an eye out on the damage Hogan will do with his feet.
The Sooners did defeat Penn State – but Miami was crushed by the Volunteers, 35-7. But in order for that to happen, they need to beat a red hot MI team in Ann Arbor and hope for the Spartans to lose against Penn State, before starting to think about beating Iowa in the Big Ten championship game and hoping for the committee to lean their way. Alabama holds its position in the rankings despite playing Southwest Missouri Tech State Academy last week.1 The spot formerly held by the Buckeyes now rests with Oklahoma. The rankings Tuesday are no guarantee, but they are a great indication, that an 11-1 Oklahoma would get the nod over an 11-1 Notre Dame. But the Sooners are a win away from punching their ticket.
The best part of the weekly rankings is the debate fodder they provide. It’s immaterial that Iowa is No. 4 and Michigan State is No. 5.
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Oklahoma State: The Cowboys don’t have the luxury Oklahoma have.
