They need to lose to North Carolina State this weekend or to Clemson in the conference championship. You can be sure Coach Dabo Swinney has been working on his celebration dance for the conference title game. And even then, it may take a miracle to keep the #2 Crimson Tide out of Atlanta…
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Just outside the top 4, several teams are vying for a spot in the playoffs.
Also, Stanford and Oklahoma State are similar opponents.
“In our view, Oklahoma is better than Iowa”, said committee Chairman Jeff Long, Arkansas’ athletic director. Championships have been won and lost in this game… that was then, this is now.
Last season, Texas Christian was third in the second-to-last playoff rankings and slipped to sixth in the final rankings, behind Ohio State and Baylor.
HOGAN’S GOODBYE: This will be the final home game for one of the most productive quarterbacks ever to play at Stanford. Perhaps there is a tweak to be made for next season, but for now, I’m going to appreciate the seasons these teams have put together.
The new college football playoff rankings are out, and it’s finally one I can agree with. That win, which is looking stronger every week, plus a few other impressive victories could help out the Irish. Notre Dame fell to No. 6 after an ugly win against Boston College and Ohio State is now No. 8 after their loss to MI State. He has amassed 25 scores for his career and tied the program mark for rushing touchdowns (four) against California past year. Only this was Bedlam and a rivalry game, and we all know that season records and past achievement means nothing in games like this.
Help needed: All right, Baylor fans.
-WR Will Fuller broke the 1,000-yard receiving plateau with his third catch of the night and now has 1,000 yards on the season. No. 1 Penn State (11-0) and No. 3 Oklahoma (10-1) faced each other in the Orange Bowl for what was advertised as the national title game.
The Big 10 is not in good position unless it’s an undefeated Iowa or a 1-loss Michigan State.
Path to the Playoff: Beat Ohio State today and have Penn State beat Michigan State, thereby landing Michigan in the Big Ten championship. Elimination game between playoff hopefuls. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will have a lot to say about a playoff berth even without a conference championship game, correct? A one-loss SEC team isn’t going to be left out.
Stanford (No. 13 AP) has already secured its spot in the league’s championship game thanks to its win over Cal on Saturday.
(8) 9% selected 2014 Ohio State (Owls) based on regular season resume. If the Cowboys can pull their upset, the Bears will need to lose one of their final two games for OSU to be able to declare itself Big 12 champions. However, Iowa has a poor strength of schedule so one loss will knock them out of the running.
Notre Dame at Stanford, 7:30 p.m., Fox29: The CFP selection committee dropped the Fighting Irish out of the top four in the latest poll after the team’s mistake-filled win over Boston College.
Notre Dame’s eight point win over Georgia Tech looked great when they sent the Yellow Jackets to their first loss in Week 3. Losing to FSU and then beating ‘Bama would certainly do the trick. The Associated Press preseason No. 11 team has, for once, gone above and beyond expectations – especially without a plethora of front-line players who have been lost to injury.
There is even an outside chance for two-loss Stanford, provided it can close with wins against Notre Dame and the Pac-12 South champion.
No. 23 Mississippi State and No. 22 UCLA also are ranked again after victories. “Clemson has a 66% chance to be in the four-team postseason with games against SC and North Carolina (ACC title game)”.
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That’s the reality of a season in which attrition has been a weekly occurrence in South Bend.
