What if Clemson loses to North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game? And through the first three installments of this year’s rankings, it looked like the committee could be undervaluing the Big 12’s top teams again. The committee was supposed to start from scratch each and every time they meet, so just because a team is in one spot and wins, that doesn’t guarantee a move up.
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They’ll get one more chance to do so Saturday night (7:30 EST, FOX), though now as the No. 6 team as they take on CFP No. 9 Stanford (9-2), in need of not only winning impressively but now needing help from teams such as Nebraska (5-6), Penn State (7-4) and Oklahoma State (10-1).
Alabama plays at Auburn, Florida State is at Florida, and the Big 12 Conference offers Baylor at TCU as well as Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. The Michigan State Spartans finally took down Goliath and the rest of the conference, and nation, was likely thankful.
So let’s discuss some of the what shows up here, which is honestly not all that different from Ty Duffy’s assessment in the latest college football preview column. And Michigan State, which leapfrogs Oklahoma. “… But I think in the end, they were so close that the fact Iowa is undefeated and they have not had a misstep along the way at this point gave them the edge against Michigan State”.
But a win over Stanford alone won’t be enough.
Rutgers got a nice break from facing conference opponents – the Scarlet Knights desperately needed it. Facing off against Army on the road, Rutgers was out-gained in total yardage, but it ultimately didn’t matter as it beat the Black Knights, 31-21. So far, the Big 12 has been on the outside looking in off the first three CFP rankings. Critics have questioned the Hawkeyes’ body of work this season, but selection committee members continue to be impressed. Notre Dame (10-1, Independent) 7. Rhoads went 32-54 and won just eight games the last three seasons. So if the No. 1 seed goes to the Orange – which Clemson would and Alabama might – a third-seeded OU could be in nearby Arlington. But so is Baylor’s meeting with TCU in Fort Worth on Friday, which could factor into the Big 12 title. Oklahoma State, Florida and North Carolina are all sitting behind two-loss teams in the rankings despite being Power Five teams themselves.
Baylor, which is No. 8, and MI, slotted at No. 10, are the other two teams in the top 10.
There is still a lot of football to be played and there are scenarios where we could see several different teams make it in the top-four. 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. But would the playoff committee really be prepared to leave out a one-loss SEC champion? The Sooners can clinch the Big 12 title with a victory, but will they have to play without quarterback Baker Mayfield? Oklahoma (10-1), 4. Iowa (11-0), 5.
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Baylor coach Art Briles recalled last year’s unsuccessful approach that left the Bears one spot short of the playoffs. The Cougars (10-1) host Navy (9-1) on Saturday. Stanford is ninth, then MI. OR 18. Ole Miss 19.
