Week 12 in College Football

The Buckeyes’ title hopes are toast after a 17-14 home loss to MI State on Saturday.

If this season has proven anything, there are no givens.

Stock up: MI State. Other one loss teams who could theoretically still get involved include TCU and North Carolina. The Tigers have struggled, but this rivalry always seems to save something special. “We’d like to play Ole Miss again, too, but we don’t have that opportunity”. Get by Auburn and Florida is next in the conference title game.

It’s hard to give a whole lot of credit to a team that’s strongest aspect of its resume is a loss, but that’s exactly the position the Fighting Irish are in. TCU’s Foster Sawyer started but was replaced by Bram Kohlhausen, who came up a two-point conversion shy of a comeback victory. But Notre Dame hasn’t dominated. At this point, it doesn’t matter how they got there. The Irish may have been looking ahead to their end of season showdown with surging Stanford, who is looking to make their own bid for a playoff spot with another marquee victory and possible Pac-12 Championship. It likely will require staying undefeated, and that alone will be hard. As expected, coach Kirk Ferentz’s team handled business this past weekend versus Purdue and have locked up a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game on December 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. On a five-game winning streak with impressive wins at Stanford and a 48-28 destruction of USC, this is now the Team No One Wants To Face.

The unbeaten Hawkeyes (11-0) have their best ranking since being No. 3 in 2002.

First two out: #5 Notre Dame (11-0), #6 MI State (10-1).

There is no doubt, though, that Clemson is the top team in the country. The biggest detractor for MI State will be the loss at Nebraska.

The Spartans’ decision to play OR (8-3), Air Force (8-3), Western MI (6-5) and Central MI (6-5) outside the Big Ten trumps any other contender’s schedule. The Longhorns are 4-6, and need two wins just to reach a bowl game.

Baylor bounced back. Oklahoma survived without its quarterback. It’s a team that will try to win at MI on Saturday and earn the right to root for Penn State to upset MSU.

Week Twelve of the college football season eliminated three more undefeated teams, as third ranked Ohio State was outplayed by MI State at home, Oklahoma State couldn’t keep up with or stop the Baylor Bears and high-powered Houston imploded against upstart UConn.

With one week left in the regular season, a handful of teams control their playoff destiny. Baylor is No. 7, Ohio State is No. 8, Oklahoma State is No. 9 and Florida sits at No. 10. Next: vs. No. 16 Florida State, Saturday.

But now? Now, you’re losing two of your best players, the coaches are facing calls of no-confidence from the team, and you’re standing on the edge of a much bigger cliff than it seemed before the game. The Tar Heels are in the ACC title game with a chance to knock off Clemson.

But OU quarterback Baker Mayfield sustained a head injury after taking a blow to the helmet from TCU’s Ty Summers in the first half, and team doctors pulled the Sooners’ quarterback from the game over halftime. Rivalry week will continue to chip away at the strength of schedule after SC just lost to Citadel, but as long as Clemson wins out, they’ll be heading to the playoff. With Alabama and Ohio State ranked 2-3 in the latest playoff poll behind Clemson, talk of a playoff rematch was gaining momentum. They’ll be favored in both of these games, but the season is far from over. “I got to make the most of my time left”. The loss to Northwestern to open the season was something the Cardinal could – and appeared to – overcome. They won one, sure-but they’ve been derailed twice thanks to the Spartans of MI State.