Alabama, Notre Dame move up, while Clemson, Ohio State hold steady

The lastest set of College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday evening, and the committee did not disappoint – that, or it really disappointed, depending on your affinity with certain Big 12 schools.

In the rankings, unbeaten Iowa received an eye-catching promotion, rising four spots to No. 5. Memphis (21), Temple (22) and Houston (24) also remain in this week’s rankings.

There’s no question that three victories over Top 15 teams would trump the way Notre Dame closes the season – against Wake Forest (currently 3-6), Boston College (3-7) and Stanford (8-1). Ohio State stays at seed No. 3 after a win over Minnesota and Notre Dame joins the club at seed No. 4 after an easy win over Pittsburgh.

Take Oklahoma State, for instance, which finishes with Baylor and OU. Yet the Cowboys come into the rankings at number eight.

The College Football Playoff semifinal games will take place on December 31, and the national championship game will be held on January 11, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona.

There are going to be plenty of people who look at the rankings and hope that Alabama and Notre Dame both lose so the undefeated teams behind them can move up to where they should. However, they have no margin of error. I’ll go so far as to say if one-loss Florida, who was just punished by the committee for winning a game, wins out and claims the SEC championship they will get in over Notre Dame and Stanford. This would also spell doom for the ACC as a whole, as there is no other team in position to make a push for the CFP. Mississippi State and Florida may challenge Alabama, but this team could be a one-loss team causing a power conference undefeated program to miss the playoffs. Despite a few of the best speed in the nation, the Tigers are in 13th of 14 teams in the SEC in kickoff returns with a 16.7-yard average.

Now to the Big 10. The undefeated Hawkeyes won’t face a test until the Big Ten Championship Game, which we all presume would be against Ohio State.

How did Alabama respond to losing the 2008 SEC Championship Game to Meyer, Tim Tebow and Florida? I’m leaning towards no.

Beat Baylor – now 6th in the playoff rankings – Saturday on the road. The Bears will host Oklahoma and an improving Texas squad, while visiting Oklahoma State and TCU.

“Oklahoma State had a good win, that’ the first piece of real strength that we’ve seen from them”, Long said during a teleconference after the rankings were announced. He usually gets time if Notre Dame is up by a lot but he has never started. Baylor (8-0) and the rest of the Big 12 contenders could be in trouble, staring at a roadblock barring an upset.

So where does this leave Notre Dame?

Committee Chairman Jeff Long praised Iowa’s consistency “on both sides of the ball”, and acknowledged Stanford has not lost since its opening defeat at Northwestern. If the Hawkeyes win out, they’ll grab one of the final four slots.