Notre Dame drops out of top four in College Football Playoff rankings

The College Football Playoff committee gave Oklahoma football some much-appreciated validation. The final one will occur on December 6 and determine which teams play in the national semifinals.

It inevitably raises more questions, which we’ll attempt to answer.

Oklahoma: QB Baker Mayfield. If Coach Mark Dantonio can get his team two more wins, they’ll be a lock for the postseason. Oklahoma’s junior quarterback has been the catalyst in the Sooners’ surge during the second half of the season. In the very last rankings, when Baylor’s and TCU’s schedule were nearly identical, the committee finally honored the head-to-head result and placed Baylor ahead of TCU. Navy is 9-1 for the first time since 1963 and the Mids have not started 10-1 since 1905.

The Gators may have that road win over the Rebels in their back pocket, but they have been a different team since Will Grier’s suspension. Later in the quarter, another touchdown to cut the lead to just three.

CFP committee chairman Jeff Long said told ESPN that there were a “number” of re-votes from the committee in the Nos. If the Tigers win their final two games, they’re in.

If the Buckeyes were sitting at 10-1 right now but they had lost that game at IN and beaten Michigan State last week, they’d be higher than their current No. 8 spot.

While Clemson and Alabama remained 1-2 in the rankings, there was some shakeup in the top four.

The committee has made it clear that it simply does not respect North Carolina.

Oklahoma may have the edge in this game with the superior defense, but a team with Oklahoma State’s offense is always capable of turning a game into a shootout and giving any team a run for its money. Victories for the Trojans and Midshipmen would enhance two of Notre Dame’s best wins.

Baylor, at No. 7, also has a bit of hope to cling on to as well, but needs a lot of help, plus a win over TCU, to keep its slim hopes alive. Notre Dame travels to Palo Alto and face No. 9 Stanford, a win is a must, but the Irish need Oklahoma to lose at Oklahoma State to feel truly secure that they’ve done enough to lock up a spot while they sit idle during championship week. It would take something of a miracle for Clemson or Alabama to tumble out, and Oklahoma added a nice win. Don’t win ugly against very bad teams Nice work, CFP committee. They only beat Vanderbilt by two points at home and almost fell to Florida Atlantic.

When TCU struggled to beat lowly Kansas on November 14, the Frogs dropped from No. 15 to No. 18 in the ensuring ranking. Sports Illustrated’s Thayer Evans mentioned him as one of many possible candidates for Iowa State’s vacancy. Translation: Alabama passes the eye test.

Even if they lost, No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama probably would not fall behind the No. 8 Buckeyes. It appears the Pac 12 will be this year’s omission, unless 9-2 Stanford can beat Notre Dame and sneak in by virtue of other top 10 teams losing in the next two weeks. It’s clear the committee has not been impressed. The way things stand, if Michigan State and Iowa win this weekend, their Big Ten Championship matchup will send the victor to the playoff, for sure. Toledo (No. 24) and Temple (No. 25) also cracked Tuesday night’s rankings. The Tide will come a long way with Henry powering the team.

The Outland Trophy has been awarded to the nation’s top interior offensive or defensive lineman since 1946. Instead, it looks like those back-loaded schedules could really pay off now with Oklahoma making the jump to No. 3. But even as Alabama has kept winning, its résumé has changed.