The top four spots now belong to Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa, in that order.
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What if Clemson loses to North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game? And if Stanford wins out, the committee might take even a two-loss Cardinal team over the Cowboys.
The teams in the top four spots when the final rankings are released December 6 will compete in a four-team playoff December 31 for the right to play in the national championship game January 11.
Iowa was ranked fourth, followed by Michigan State, Notre Dame, Baylor, Ohio State, Stanford and Michigan.
TCU: With two losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the only thing left for the Horned Frogs is ruin the season for Baylor and leave the Big 12 title for one of the Oklahoma teams.
Michigan’s playoff chances died with Blake O’Neill mishandled a punt and allowed Michigan State to win in the most improbable fashion imaginable. The Spartans also breathed some much-needed life back into their own playoff chances, something that seemed very unlikely after a 39-38 loss to Nebraska earlier this month. But the Huskers are coming off a bye week while Iowa is playing on the road on a short week, with their conference divisional championship already wrapped up.
Playoff outlook: On life support.
After three weeks of holding steady at No. 4 in the eyes of the 12-person committee, the Irish were jumped by Oklahoma (No. 3), Iowa (No. 4) and Michigan State (No. 5).
Asked if the committee views Oklahoma’s loss to Texas as an aberration, Long said, “I think it’s more a function of how Oklahoma has performed since that loss”. A loss Saturday to Texas A&M would drop the Tigers to 4-4 in the SEC for the second straight year. Baylor faced a good Kansas State team at home, posted a solid win, but still was being dragged down by its nonconference schedule and a loss at West Virginia, which finished in the middle of the Big 12. “It was more about the performance of Oklahoma and Michigan State against top-ranked teams”. They’d have to work their way over Baylor and Notre Dame, but a clear-cut, one-loss conference champion probably has a stronger case.
This really is the college football version of braketology. Michigan State (10-1), 6.
When Ohio State lost to Michigan State on Saturday only one undefeated Big Ten team remained: Iowa. After defeating the Midshipmen 41-24, Notre Dame has watched Navy go undefeated since, compiling a 9-1 record.
An Oklahoma win over Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series would virtually assure the Sooners of one of the four spots in college football’s version of the Final Four.
I also bring up Clemson because they have played against some of the teams that the Fighting Irish have.
No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 9 Oklahoma State.
It’s almost as though the committee is saying, “This is where Oklahoma will be ranked if it beats Oklahoma State, so we are going to go ahead and slot them there”. But Ohio State would be in the heart of the discussion. They can end up as Big 12 champions or co-champions, but it might not be enough to gain the favour of those 12 making the decisions about the Final Four.
Stanford and Oklahoma State are similar opponents.
In Les Miles’ 11th season as its head coach, Louisiana State entered November with an unbeaten record and a CFP berth squarely in its sights.
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Michigan State: Very simple for the Spartans, who are at number 5 right now. The victor of the Navy-Houston game will host either Temple or South Florida next Saturday at 12 noon in the American Championship game. That ought to put Ohio State back in the playoff mix. While a big concern lies with the Hawkeyes’ strength of schedule (65 nationally), it doesn’t mean Iowa can’t match the physicality with the other big names in the playoffs.
