At No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Notre Dame controls its own destiny in the College Football Playoff race, at least to an extent.
Advertisement
Clemson remained No. 1.
– Pac-12 way: Stanford beats Notre Dame and loses in the Pac-12 championship game to Utah. Alabama still has to go to Mississippi State and Auburn, and Ohio State still has MI State, Michigan and Iowa. The CFP selection committee felt Alabama’s win over former No. 2 LSU was worth a bump from No. 4 to No. 2.
Notre Dame and Alabama each has one loss. They have been the favorites for the number one seed since before the poll came out.
Finally in our neck of the woods, the Big Ten picture looks pretty cut and dry.
Clemson remained No. 1 and was followed by Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame. The Sooners could snap its two-year Big 12 title drought that is its longest under coach Bob Stoops, and possibly get into the playoff, with a season-ending sweep of Baylor, No. 13 TCU and No. 5 Oklahoma State.
Committee chairman Jeff Long said Notre Dame was “solidly” No. 4. “They’re going to get an opportunity to show us”. “They aren’t flashy, but they are consistent”. While the Hawkeyes surged ahead of the Bears, they are still the second Big Ten team in the rankings.
How is Iowa ahead of all these other undefeated teams? Baylor is the highest-ranked Big 12 team – at No. 6 for the second straight week – with Oklahoma State No. 8 after being No. 14 in the first rankings. If JT Barrett starts consistently producing on offense in the next coming weeks, it may silence a few doubters.
Colorado and IN are improved this season but have generally been considered two of the weakest teams among the power five leagues. It’s still early in the process.
“We understand that our schedule is really back-loaded”, Baylor Coach Art Briles told ESPN on its post-ranking wrap-up show.
Now, what are the implications of Notre Dame participating in the playoff? As much ass it pains me to say it, the Fighting Irish could get another shot at Clemson while the Pac-12 and Big-12 stay out of the top of the rankings. Their quarterback has had great play.
“We need to win three more games”, Kelly said Saturday. That speaks to the strength of that team.
He also admitted the committee gave Stanford a bit of a pass on the season-opening loss to Northwestern, a flat performance in a game that began at 9 a.m. Pacific time. The next week, Stanford began its current eight-game winning streak.
Here is the College Football Playoff committee’s top 10 announced Tuesday night. The playoff semifinals will match the No. 1seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No.3.
Advertisement
Bill Hancock, the CFP’s executive director, said the complete bowl pairings could be delayed until after December 12. The winners will meet in the national championship game on Monday, January 11, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
