This Saturday, Oklahoma travels to No. 11 Oklahoma State and Notre Dame plays at No. 9 Stanford.
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The defending national champion Ohio State dropped five spots to No. 8 after dropping a home game to Michigan State.
The committee put Oklahoma in position to earn the spot over Notre Dame if both teams win out. While Oklahoma State would climb in the rankings, maybe even to the point they pass the Spartans this weekend, MSU could get an opportunity to return the favor with a win over a potentially undefeated Iowa. If all that happens, it would mean Notre Dame will have played five teams that are playing in their respective conference title games and would have a 4-1 record against those teams – assuming the Irish beat Stanford. It’s very possible the Gators could beat Florida State, win the SEC championship (beating Alabama) – understand, we’re not saying it’s probable, only that it’s possible – and still conceivably get left out of the Playoff field. If Alabama does succumb to a massive upset, and Ole Miss beats Mississippi State, the two-loss Rebels would play Florida (which has a tough game against Florida State this weekend) in the SEC Championship.
Meanwhile, the remaining events in the New Year’s Six access bowl games – Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Peach – will select the highest-ranked remaining teams that fill their criteria.
And, too, if OU wins, the Sooners would add a Big 12 title to their résumé. If Notre Dame gets a season-ending win versus #9 Stanford, they could probably hold off Oklahoma State. They’re still in the title game, but then the whole two-loss factor comes into play. In the last rankings, when Baylor’s and TCU’s schedule were nearly identical, the committee finally honored the head-to-head result and placed Baylor ahead of TCU.
Several analysts, including Stewart Mandel of FoxSports.com, have declared MSU a sure thing if it gets two wins, one over an unbeaten Iowa.
What if Penn State beats Michigan State, Michigan beats Ohio State and Michigan beats unbeaten Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game?
What if Stanford beats Notre Dame?
Reason for optimism: The Spartans are bursting at the seams with optimism after jumping Notre Dame on Tuesday in the wake of their seismic 17-14 victory at Ohio State. Instead, a Stanford win will knock the Irish out of the playoff picture while still putting the Cardinal behind any one-loss Big Ten team. Michigan State’s resume, with wins over Oregon, Michigan and Ohio State, is a whole lot more impressive, but a second loss (on top of a bad, late-game collapse at Nebraska) would be devastating for the Spartans’ chances. However, the Sooners won both games against backup quarterbacks – just like Clemson’s two big wins over Notre Dame and Florida State-I-know-and-I-don’t-care-Maguire-really-is-the-No.
A one-loss Big 12 champion is in. Alabama is ranked second this time around, but have a Heisman Trophy contender powering heir backfield in Derrick Henry. The Sooners (10-1) and Hawkeyes (11-0) fall in at Nos.
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Oklahoma will face off against #11 Oklahoma State this weekend and it is far from a forgone conclusion that the Sooners will walk over their in-state rivals. Just last season, the Tide were ranked as the nation’s best team entering their playoff semifinals. This might not bode well for the Big 12, again. Perhaps Kelly realized his team was in trouble with the committee, but his words earlier Tuesday wouldn’t lead anyone to believe that. Keep that resume built up for the Big Ten Championship.
