“But again, we don’t control that”. They were faced with the question: “Which four teams would you least want to face in the College Football Playoff?”.
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The Big 12’s tough November slate continues for the third-consecutive week with its four ranked teams playing each other as they battle for the conference title.
One analyst said the rankings are more rigid this year because there are plenty of pivotal games still on the schedule.
What does the selection committee think of Baker Mayfield?
“Get their own turnovers, stop people in the redzone and make them kick field goals”. Oklahoma’s junior quarterback has been the catalyst in the Sooners’ surge during the second half of the season.
The unbeaten Hawkeyes (11-0) have their best ranking since being No. 3 in 2002.
At this point, it seems unlikely that a team outside the top 10 could jump into the top four by the end of the season, but odd things do seem to happen.
Can Baylor get back into it?
The road to Big Ten elite status goes through the 5-6 Hoosiers. A member of the committee said that the Tigers are “solidly” the #1 team in the country.
This is just me, but I’m guessing if it came down to it, Gary would rather beat Art Briles and Baylor than Bob Stoops and Oklahoma. The two teams moved up at the expense of Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Clemson and Alabama are in the playoff if each win out, and you figure whoever survives the Big Ten Championship game is secured a spot.
Elsewhere around the Big Ten, behind Ohio State’s No. 8 ranking, MI check in at No. 10 – giving the Big Ten three top 10 teams – and Northwestern comes in at No. 17.
Is the committee consistent in its treatment of unimpressive wins? Navy also play Army two weeks later. And the answer was: Yes. 1 and 2, North Carolina is on a roll.
Meanwhile, the remaining games that compose the New Year’s Six bowl games – Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Peach – will select the highest ranked remaining teams that fill their criteria.
No. 9 Stanford (9-2) has to beat Notre Dame and win the Pac-12 title game. But losing to Florida would be a clear elimination of the Seminoles. Oklahoma would be the Big 12 champion. Rounding out the rest of the top-10 is Baylor (who is coming off a huge win at Oklahoma State on Saturday) at No.7, Stanford at No. 9 and MI at No. 10. 3 and 4, respectively, behind top-ranked Clemson and No. 2 Alabama. But even as Alabama has kept winning, its résumé has changed.
Baylor, at No. 7, also has a bit of hope to cling on to as well, but needs a lot of help, plus a win over TCU, to keep its slim hopes alive. Neither is ranked now.
Certainly you couldn’t lose your last game and still make the playoffs. “That’s a strong schedule, and … they’ve performed very well since that loss against Ole Miss”.
Try selling that “play well” speech to last year’s Frogs, who probably figured a 52-point win was a pretty nice affirmation of their fleeting third-ranked status.
“We feel like we’ve got to do a better job offensively, in making good decisions, ball security”, he said. OR 18. MS 19.
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What’s the highest No. 8 Ohio State could be next week?
