The intrigue will finally be put to bed Sunday when the final College Football Playoff rankings and matchups are set. It figures to be light on drama. Meantime, Notre Dame, six last week, and Oklahoma State, eleven last week, should slide tonight for falling to Stanford and Oklahoma, respectively. He returned from a concussion suffered a week earlier to lead the Sooners over Oklahoma State, making a highlight play by throwing a lead block on a 66-yard change-of-direction touchdown run by Joe Mixon. I like this Iowa team, but this will be their toughest test to date while Michigan State has been prepped for this with their schedule. The Sooners stayed at No. 3, behind Clemson and Alabama. Barring upsets, the committee should do its job this year without too much complaint.
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But if things don’t go as planned, if chaos reigns on the final weekend, how would things shake out?
– Clemson loses to North Carolina and Stanford wins?
Clemson is also No. 1 this week by Associated Press and USA Today, the fourth straight No. 1 ranking in AP and the third straight by USA Today.
The question is this: out of those three conference title games, how many of them carry the same prize for both combatants? But it has been hurt by the eye test and “game control”. But they’ve remained ranked fairly high and if they manage to get past Southern Cal in the Pac-12 title game a week after beating Notre Dame on the final play of the game, it might be just enough juice to vault into the top four if Clemson or Alabama fall, though it might take a loss from both. The defending national champion would be an attractive choice for the playoff committee. They are playing better RIGHT NOW than Baylor and Oklahoma State, though – so welcome.
(10-1) Oklahoma State (#11 in the A&H Rankings): Win at home against Oklahoma, hope TCU or Texas beats Baylor, hope Clemson or Notre Dame loses, and hope to prevail with the committee. I think Alabama wins in a rout and I have no problem laying this many points. Second, they lost to fellow 2-loss team, Northwestern.
Rivalry Week in college football clarified the playoff picture to a great extent. What a time to be alive.
The service academy Lou Holtz once referred to as “The University of Navy” saved college football from possibly having to ask for a final-exam extension. Let’s be clear: give me the Crimson Tide on a neutral field over any other side.
In the case of the Tar Heels, Long continued to cite their poor strength of schedule, a Week 1 loss to 3-9 SC and victories over two FCS opponents as reasons holding them back. As a 17-point favorite over Florida they won’t be given a ton of credit no matter how dominant a performance they author.
Whatever happens this weekend, they’re in the playoff. “It depends on how the other teams play and what the results are above and below them”. No one outside the Air Force or San Diego State programs thought these teams would be in the Mountain West Championship Game, but here they are one win away from the title.
Ohio State, which wrapped up its season with a win over MI, moved up to sixth.
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The committee might want to send Stanford a thank you note. No. 2 Alabama (11-1) faces No. 18 Florida (10-2) to settle the SEC title. That would easily be their best win. The Wildcats were also jumped by TCU and Ole Miss despite winning.
