The Frogs will tumble out of the top 10 after being soundly defeated by Oklahoma State. The Tar Heels are the ultimate overlooked team, not even ranked by the playoff committee. When the committee makes its final decision in early December, a team such as Baylor can tout not just an unbeaten record and conference title but wins against three teams in the Playoff rankings – in the final month alone.
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Keeping Oklahoma State from first down success is imperative. Kansas is looking less and less likely to win another game this season and really didn’t have much chance in this one. Notre Dame broke into the top four. Baylor stood pat at No. 6, while it was leap-frogged by No. 5 Iowa. Staying on track for the Big 12 championship, taking one step at a time, is motivation enough. In the interest of fairness and objectivity, here are four compelling counterarguments and reasons why Baylor will come out ahead when the final whistle blows on Saturday night in Waco, Texas.
There’s a lot left to happen. It may even be considered a trap game for the Sooners if they beat Baylor, because they might look ahead to potentially undefeated OSU. “They both have opportunities to change where that ranking is and move up”.
“Baylor’s work is in front of them, and then Oklahoma State still has work in front of them”, Long said. “I’m proud of this team – we were picked eighth in conference and finished second, and made it to the semifinal, which no one gave us a shot to be anywhere near this right now”. The signature non-conference win for that group is Oklahoma’s come-from-behind victory over Tennessee. CFP selection committee chair Jeff Long called that area the “most volatile” for the 12-person committee.
Or it could conclude with a loss to the Sooners (8-1, 5-1) that would squash Baylor’s realistic hopes for a CFP berth and provide another round of fodder for analysts who consider the Bears unworthy of playoff consideration until the team tackles a meatier nonconference schedule.
What is public is Baylor’s 15-2 record in November matchups since 2010.
Herbstreit mentioned the potential meaning of Bedlam on ESPN’s broadcast Tuesday. “He acts like he’s played college football for two years already”. But the Sooners have proven that they can overcome adversity after beating a then ranked Tennessee team on its home turf, and responding to a loss to Texas by beating Kansas State with a 55-point shutout thanks in part to a revived run game with Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. “The majority of the Big 12’s strength and their strength of schedule are here on the back end of the season”. “But I think you have to know the environment that you’re going into”.
Traveling to see your team away, on the road, is a great excuse to visit an awesome city. Only MI State’s over MI compares. But don’t forget about the undefeated Cougars, who could reach a “New Year’s Six” bowl game with wins over Memphis and Navy to end the season.
Starting with the obvious, if Clemson wins out, the Tigers are in. The TCU loss just about knocks TCU out of consideration for the Playoff. It’s Alabama. The committee will figure out a way. But there’s one team outside the top ten that has a chance to still barge their way into the top four and a national championship.
The Bears will try to beat Oklahoma for the third straight year following a 41-12 blowout in 2013 at Floyd Casey Stadium and a 48-14 win last year in Norman.
RB Leonard Fournette, LSU: He rushed for just 31 yards against the Crimson Tide, but is the nation’s leader in rushing. If the Sooners run the table, their resume would look a lot like Ohio State’s a year ago – a once-beaten traditional power with a fluke loss to a mediocre team.
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Doctson, a senior, was injured late in the first half of the Horned Frogs’ loss to now-No.
