24 in latest College Football Playoff rankings

But Clemson struggled with SC last week, finally winning 37-32.

“A conference championship game, not having one or having one can help or hurt you, depending on the circumstances of that particular season”, Long said. That will leave them as a top-two seed.

Iowa (12-0) will play Michigan State (11-1) in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday evening in Indianapolis, with the victor presumed bound for the sport’s second four-team playoff, which will be released Sunday when the final rankings are revealed.

Over at FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver’s model has simulated the rest of the season thousands of times and thanks to no title game in the Big 12, Oklahoma now has a 99% chance (up from 64% a week ago) to take one of the four playoff spots.

Yet intrigue is still afoot. The Cardinal have had some notable stumbles along the way but a big win over the Trojans combined with Clemson, Alabama and Iowa faltering could open the door for them to sneak in.

Without another game to play, No. 6 Ohio State will have to sit and watch others determine whether it will get a chance to defend its national championship.

Are you ready for Oklahoma vs. Alabama at the Cotton Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal?

And another conference championship finalist, SEC East victor Florida, is the lowest-ranked two-loss Power Five team at No. 18. “A lot of people want to state their case, and stating your case doesn’t mean anything”. Great idea, if the playing field is level for all teams. “If it’s not, fine”. Ohio State’s lone, marquee victory came last week against MI. Yet, the College Football Playoff selection committee has seeded the Hawkeyes fourth two weeks in a row. It may not consider North Carolina to be one of the four best teams in the country. “It’s never just one thing, there are multiple things in there that have held UNC back”.

Clemson retained the top spot this week in spite of a lackluster win over woeful SC.

Like many, I could not name an Iowa player until running back Jordan Canzeri showed up in the weekend highlights. Again, if the Tigers beat but struggle against the Tar Heels, the Tide will look much stronger to the committee.

So I am no longer of the opinion that Ohio State will get into The Playoff with a Clemson loss.

First, the committee is rightly responding to Iowa’s unblemished 12-0 mark.

Top-ranked Tigers are not quite a prohibitive favorite to win this game, meaning that a Carolina upset remains a reasonable possibility.

Even the Rose has likely been neutered, as the Big Ten and Pac 12 athletic directors have given them fairly clear marching orders; take the highest ranked teams available to you from both leagues.

If that happens, Ohio State’s fate would be left to the committee’s whim. There’s no way the committee can clearly distinguish four clear top teams out of the many possible contenders vying for playoff positions, whether it be last year, this year, or in the future.

How Michigan State wins: Don’t stray from the plan. Using Prediction Machine’s strength of schedule ranking – which considers as factors margin of victory and wins and losses of opponents and the opponents of a team’s opponents – Iowa’s schedule rates just 62nd in the FBS. How might they feel about two losses? According to the playoff committee, Notre Dame’s best victory was against No. 20 USC, an 8-4 team that fired its coach the week it played the Irish. Yet this season has never gone according to script. It may be only fitting to have one last hiccup of anarchy before the Playoff finally arrives.