An Alabama-Oklahoma reunion would certainly trump Clemson-Iowa.
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Iowa has its best ranking in the AP Top 25 since being ranked No. 3 in 2002. The Buckeyes, who began the season as a unanimous number one and slipped to second earlier this month, fell to eighth. 10-1 | at TCU on 11/28Beating Oklahoma State with a third string quarterback was huge for Baylor, but with the TCU game meaning little, it’s not CFP huge. QB Baker Mayfield is supposed to be okay for Oklahoma State, but that was a rough performance without him.
If the playoff started today, who would be in?
The latest set of College Football Playoff rankings won’t come out until Tuesday night, and until then, there will be plenty of debate over which teams belong in the top four. I have been saying from the beginning that Notre Dame was overrated and Iowa maybe a little bit underrated and now it’s a little ironic that Iowa ends up jumping ND.
Both Oklahoma (Oklahoma State) and Notre Dame (Stanford) have tough road games to claim the last playoff spot.
This is the way it works with the Big 12, and it has nothing to do with some inane argument about no league championship game (does Notre Dame play in a league championship game?). And in spite of only playing four true road games this season, those games have all been challenging, and the home slate was too.
Stanford, meanwhile, will enter the game having clinched a spot in the Pac-12 championship game by virtue of its 35-22 win over California.
That and three big plays were the difference: Christian McCaffrey s screen-and-run, Bryce Love s turbo 48-yard run, and McCaffrey s 98-yard kickoff return.
– The dismissal of Paul Rhoads puts Iowa State athletic Jamie Pollard on the spot. Perhaps even more troublesome for Ohio State, running back Ezekiel Elliott ripped the playcalling for the loss, and said he would go pro after this season, and quarterback Cardale Jones hinted on Twitter he might not be back. If the Mids win out, they will go to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Mississippi State’s final game of the regular season is Saturday’s Egg Bowl vs. No. 18 Ole Miss in Starkville. The Cougars (10-1) host Navy (9-1) on Saturday.
#19 Temple beat Memphis, 31-12, in a battle of AAC teams.
Other games of outcome included Florida, who had an outside shot of making it should the Gators beat Alabama in the SEC championship, barely beating Florida Atlantic in overtime. Even if the Heels win out and beat No. 1 Clemson in the ACC title game, they would need utter chaos to ensue to vault all the way into the top 4.
Ohio State was ranked No. 6 at this time past year. Would we be one of those teams in the hunt for another berth in the College Football Playoff? We play big games like everyone else. The top eight seeds will receive byes to the second round and will play their first games on their home fields.
Remember when LSU was undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the nation?
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Northwestern left with a 9-2 record, while Wisconsin drops to 8-3, with its fans chucking snowballs at referees. No conspiracy. We are asking a group of people to gauge the strength of football teams that don’t play each other and play all different kinds of styles and opponents. While the Cornhuskers have only won five games, they have won two straight including a won over MI State. The Bison lost at Montana in their season opener.
