This is a veteran-laden team with plenty of players who went through that 2012 season, in which Notre Dame went undefeated but still needed losses by Kansas State, Oregon and Alabama to finish the regular season with a No. 1 ranking.
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Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, 8 p.m., 6ABC: The season has come around quite nicely for the Sooners, now No. 3 in the CFP poll, since their upset loss to Texas. 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. The Cowboys dropped to 11th after losing for the first time this season.
At No. 15, Navy is clearly the top team from outside the Power Five conferences.
“In our view, Oklahoma is better than Iowa”, committee chairman Jeff Long said.
When 13th-ranked Stanford takes the field for Saturday’s regular-season finale against fourth-ranked Notre Dame, it will mark the last home game for many seniors.
Ohio State, the reigning national champ, stood at No. 3 in each of the previous CFP rankings this season, but a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State (which rose to No. 5 this week) sent the Buckeyes spiraling down to No. 8 this week.
It is not the same situation. But with a second loss, this team can focus on Northwestern State, SMU, Rice and the Derek Zoolander School For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Want To Do Other Stuff Good Too next year.
Playoff Outlook: A lock, if – and it’s no given – the Tigers win each of their last two games, beginning this week at rival SC and then against the Tar Heels the following week. But, that can only happen if Baylor loses to either TCU or Texas. Just keep a one-loss ND team out of the conversation. The Big 12 is now using head-to-head tiebreakers.
Baylor’s very weak nonconference schedule also left it susceptible to being slighted by the committee last season. The Sooners have no such problem, with a win at Tennessee (7-4) to their credit. In the last rankings, when Baylor’s and TCU’s schedule were nearly identical, the committee finally honored the head-to-head result and placed Baylor ahead of TCU. And it would make the resumes of the three top teams of the Big 12 (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor) that much worse.
Notre Dame @ Stanford: This is the game The Cardinal had circled on the calendar all year. Notre Dame had five turnovers last week against Boston College, the same amount as in the previous five games combined…. Each of those three teams would then at most have two wins over ranked teams.
That has Big 12 observers understandably wondering whether the conference is set up for another fall from No. 3 even if Oklahoma takes care of business on Saturday. But if Michigan State loses to Penn State, the Ohio State-Michigan victor will get its own shot at the Hawkeyes.
Still stuffed? Hopefully you saved room for a few more helpings of football as there’ll be plenty to feast on this weekend.
The Spartans entered the game without starting quarterback Connor Cook and while backup Tyler O’Connor wasn’t a game-changer, he did enough to help Michigan State pull off the upset.
No. 5 Michigan State has to play Penn State this weekend. Below is everything you need to know about the game, including the Notre Dame vs. Stanford online live stream, TV broadcast information, game notes and prediction.
The question is ultimately this for Notre Dame: will the committee favor a one-loss independent or a one-loss conference champion?
A couple weeks later both are lurking and the two could combine to make a fascinating decision for the committee.
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If No. 9 Stanford beats No. 6 Notre Dame, maybe the Cardinal find their way back to the top.
