Could North Carolina Be This Season’s Ohio State?

“Our charge is clear: Try to rank those top four teams, 1, 2, 3 and 4, and we’re going to do that by who we think are the best teams”, Long said. If Iowa wins, Stanford’s not a threat to overtake the Hawkeyes.

Iowa is No. 4 and Michigan State is No. 5, setting up a playoff play-in game in Saturday’s Big Ten title game.

Even those who might believe Alabama or Clemson has the stuff to take OU down must still admit that, for the last seven weeks, nobody’s looked as good as OU has, claiming victim after victim. As long as they win, they will be in. This season has easily produced some of the most fantastic storylines in the history of the sport. That does not bode well for the SEC landing a spot in the Playoff should the Gators upset Alabama on Saturday night in Atlanta. However, some commentators note, a resounding win over the top-ranked Clemson Tigers in the ACC championship game could possibly vault North Carolina into the top four.

Iowa has had to listen to the doubters all season.

The victor of the Big Ten championship game between Iowa and Michigan State gets in. Oklahoma, whose regular season is complete, should stick in the final four after its convincing win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. If Michigan State loses to Iowa, I could not put the Buckeyes in over Michigan State after Sparty beat them in Columbus.

Michigan State is pretty much self explanatory.

They look over each teams strength of schedule, standing, and overall results. However, North Carolina at No. 10 did not make up enough ground in the past week to get close enough to scoop up an open top four spot.

UNC has won 11 games in a row since a season-opening loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, but it hasn’t played an offense on par with quarterback Deshaun Watson and Clemson. The Buckeyes probably need a North Carolina win to give themselves a chance. “If you’re an Ohio State fan, that’s the more realistic approach is hoping you stay above the loser in Indianapolis”. If this is the case, then can’t one ask: “How could Ohio State make the playoff if they didn’t even win their conference title”?

Clemson has wins against two teams in the committee’s top 10, Notre Dame at 8 and Florida State at 9. Notre Dame’s last-second loss to Stanford eliminated Brian Kelly’s team from the chance to compete for a national title.

Path to the Playoff: Win the Pac-12 championship by beating USC on December 5 and have Alabama lose to Florida. Do that, and Clemson should be no worse than the No. 2 seed in the Playoff.

Notre Dame and Florida State both have identical records to Northwestern’s, and the Wildcats possess a better win (over No. 6 Stanford) than either the Fighting Irish or the Seminoles do.

Could the College Football Playoff selection committee actually be free of controversy for the remainder of the season?

As we near the end of the the 2015 college football season, we’ve also neared the end of the second season of the “College Football Playoff” era.