Michigan State has made sure to take this season one step at a time, that’s why the Spartans likely weren’t paying too much attention to the latest College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday. Things are pretty damn simple – Clemson should beat North Carolina (although I’m shocked the Tigers are only a 5 point favorite), Alabama should murder Florida (rightly, a 17.5 point underdog), Oklahoma is finished and in, and the victor of the Big Ten title game (Michigan State -4 over Iowa) will get the fourth spot.
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Meanwhile, Iowa (40%) and Michigan State (61%) will face off in the Big Ten title game, which is now effectively a play-in game for the playoff, with Silver giving the Spartans the edge. “They dominated that game and it was a very impressive win to everyone who saw the game and watched it, and certainly added to Ohio State’s résumé and is really the most impressive win they have on their résumé”.
Waiting in the wings are sixth-ranked Ohio State and seventh-ranked Stanford.
As we near the end of the the 2015 college football season, we’ve also neared the end of the second season of the “College Football Playoff” era. Tech was ranked early in the season and then fell off the deep end while still beating Florida State.
If Alabama wins on Saturday in Atlanta, it will be in that one meaningful ranking.
While Clemson and Alabama look to seal spots in the Playoff, Stanford will have a rematch with No. 20 Southern California to settle the Pac-12 Conference championship.
Michigan State fans and Orange Bowl organizers learned how quickly the CFP committee can change their minds a year ago, even without the hint of apparent cause. Who would get in among a one-loss Clemson, a one-loss, ACC champion North Carolina, a two-loss, Pac-12 champion Stanford and a potential one-loss Iowa?
That means it will probably be a low-scoring game unless the Crimson Tide get some defensive scores. Those without playoff hopes, and even the losers on Saturday, will be in the mix for a New Year’s Six Bowl.
Or maybe Clemson slips from No. 1 to No. 4, and the ACC doesn’t get shut out.
The selection committee jumped the Tar Heels from 14th to 10th, but that leaves little doubt that victories over two FCS schools (North Carolina A&T and Delaware) are more of an albatross around North Carolina’s neck than a loss to Texas is for Oklahoma.
While the committee gave a debut ranking to No. 25 Tennessee (8-4), which would seem to help Oklahoma’s cause because Oklahoma won at Tennessee, it kept a strong respect for the American Athletic Conference. An expansion of the playoff could take place in the coming years, but with conference championship games serving as de-facto first round playoff games, bubble teams like Michigan State and UNC have a chance to seize a spot.
They beat Florida State and Notre Dame. The Buckeyes (11-1) moved up with a resounding win at MI last week. Ohio State moved up to No. 6, giving the Big Ten slots 4-6. Playing Oklahoma in its backyard in Dallas, or Iowa, or Michigan State?
Clemson is once again the top-ranked team in the CFP poll. Last season, the Big 12 informed the committee that TCU and Baylor were co-champs.
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No team with two losses has the opportunity Stanford does.
