Iowa moved to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll, taking advantage of the first losses by Ohio State and Oklahoma State to slip in behind No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama.
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Oklahoma moved up four spots in the College Football Playoff ranking to No. 3, the playoff committee announced on Tuesday. They need Michigan State to lose against Penn State and to beat Michigan themselves in order to make it into the Big Ten championship game against Iowa, who close the season on the road against Nebraska.
The CFP committee took notice of that performance, chairman Jeff Long said.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a tremendous amount to play for as they prepare for the last game of the season against the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto.
Notre Dame (10-1) also plays its last game of the season Saturday, a possible resume-builder against Stanford, which is ninth in the rankings. If both win, that sets up a Big Ten championship game with unbeaten Iowa against Michigan State at 11-1. The Buckeyes have won 10 of the last 11 in the series. The Irish could be blocked without an upset or two in the Big Ten over the next couple weeks. With a win against Mississippi State on Saturday in the Egg Bowl, they would finish 9-3, making Bama’s home loss back in September look a little better. Clemson is coming off a highly-emotional win over conference rivals, Florida State Seminoles, in Week 10. Keep in mind, if the Spartans beat Penn State this weekend, things could still change drastically next week.
The Crimson Tide appears firmly entrenched at No. 2 behind Clemson.
Notre Dame is fourth and Oklahoma is fifth.
If they were held today based on the current ranking, Clemson would meet Iowa in the Orange Bowl, and Alabama would face Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. Once again, the match up between the Sooners and Cowboys will help decide the Big 12. “His focus is here at Notre Dame, and he wants to be here”. But, what fans, are really hoping for is a spot in one of the playoff games.
With such a scenario, Notre Dame, assuming a win this weekend, would then have four wins over ranked opponents on its resume.
The conference’s other one-loss team, Baylor (9-1) plays TCU this week and Texas on December 5. Sports Illustrated’s Thayer Evans mentioned him as one of many possible candidates for Iowa State’s vacancy. The debate is as much fun as the games right up to the point when our team loses. That ought to put Ohio State back in the playoff mix.
Navy plays at once-defeated Houston on Friday.
What if Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State this weekend? Though they don’t have the wins against teams like Oregon, Michigan and Ohio State, their only loss is to the best team in the country.
Ohio State, the reigning national champ, stood at No. 3 in each of the previous CFP rankings this season, but a heartbreaking loss to MI State (which rose to No. 5 this week) sent the Buckeyes spiraling down to No. 8 this week.
Regardless, sitting at No. 7 with games left against No. 19 TCU and Texas, the Bears have two more opportunities to impress the committee.
The question is ultimately this for Notre Dame: will the committee favor a one-loss independent or a one-loss conference champion?
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“…They have so many other great qualities as a football team, that if that’s our weakness where we feel like we’ve got the game in control, we’ll try to work through that one”.
