The Allstate Sugar Bowl is guaranteed the Big 12 champ, but since No. 3 Oklahoma is in the semifinal, the Sugar Bowl would get the team that finishes second in the Big 12 standings.
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The rest of the top four were unchanged from last week with Clemson staying at No. 1, Alabama at No. 2 and Iowa at No. 4.
The Spartans (11-1) and Hawkeyes (12-0) will sort it out on the field at 8:17 p.m. on Saturday in the Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (TV: Fox).
The Ohio State Buckeyes finished their season with an exclamation mark as they blew away the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines for a lopsided 42-13 win to improve to 11-1 on the season. We already know that Alabama is in with a win, Oklahoma will be in and that the victor of the Big Ten Championship Game will get a spot as well.
But sneaking in behind Ohio State is a two-loss Stanford team that’s coming off a win to Notre Dame and will play USC in the Pac-12 title game against USC.
There was a time when Ohio State’s nonconference schedule this season was North Carolina in week one, Northern Illinois in week two and at Virginia Tech in week three. The Cardinal face No. 20 USC (8-4) in the conference championship game Saturday in Santa Clara. So with Clemson #1, Alabama #2, Iowa #3 and Oklahoma #4, the Sooners would face Clemson in Miami, which is more palatable to the committee’s desire to take away any sort of “near” home field advantage.
For Clemson, it is pretty simple: win and they’re in.
The Clemson football team is ranked #1 in the nation in the College Football Playoff Poll, but now there is more controversy than ever before within the committee. Alabama- the team that has two wins over a top-25 team on its resume- is being considered for the #1 spot in the country. If one or both teams lose, then we have some chaos.
The victor of the Big 10 championship will definitely get a spot.
Because of geography, proximity and fan interest, the Fiesta Bowl would probably see a marquee matchup of No. 8 Notre Dame against No. 6 Ohio State. “It depends on how the other teams play and what the results are above and below them”.
The reality is, Notre Dame didn’t play like a College Football Playoff team. After a Thanksgiving rivalry weekend, we are left with not only the same exact top five, but a playoff path that is virtually locked in heading into Conference Title Game weekend.
Thanks to Stanford, the North Carolina Tar Heels still have a real chance. Michigan State’s defense is giving up an average of 21 points per game while Iowa’s defense is giving up 19 points per game. Over the last two seasons, Henry has rushed for 2,787 yards and 33 touchdowns.
As a wannabe litigation attorney for the Ohio State football program, I can’t advise the Buckeyes strongly enough to stop talking.
The only other team from the Group of Five conferences – Mountain West, Sun Belt, Mid-American and Conference USA – is Navy at No. 23, which is also from the American.
The Big Ten representative in the Rose Bowl will be either the loser of Michigan State-Iowa or Ohio State.
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Going into Tuesday, not many expected much difference in the top four – but there were questions as to whether the order might be different from last week.
