Michigan State, maybe Ohio St. still alive for Playoffs

Oklahoma looks like a lock as the Big 12 champion, and the Big Ten seems secure with the victor of the championship game more than likely in.

The final ranking and pairings will be announced Sunday. But it’s plain to see Oklahoma should be OK.

Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa are the top four teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

“The fact that I think that most of the discussion and debate was above them and below them would indicate that their position at three was pretty solid with the committee” this week, Long said of the Sooners.

No. 1 Clemson (12-0) will be playing No. 10 UNC (11-1) at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.at 8:00 p.m. EST, aired on ABC. The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten West Division, and they face East Division co-champion and fifth-ranked Michigan State (11-1) in the conference championship game Saturday night in Indianapolis.

“We had great debate about Clemson and Alabama, and we had a number of revotes”, said Long, the Arkansas athletic director and playoff committee chairman. That might be enough for another team to elevate, particularly if it catches the committee’s eye with a dominating win over the weekend – in much the same fashion Ohio State reached the Playoff a season ago. The second question is harder to answer as history shows it is difficult in the college game to beat a team twice in one season.

Clemson boasts the nation’s longest active winning streak at 15 games. Clemson is in with a win, but North Carolina would need help with a USC win.

But the selection committee remains starry eyed about ‘Bama namely because…it’s ‘Bama. Michigan State edge out Ohio State just because of the human voters, nothing else.

There are other teams in the top 10: Ohio State, Notre Dame and Florida State.

The stars are aligning for a shortened list of teams as conference championship games are set to take place on Saturday. Basically, it’s a tiebreaker.

If everything doesn’t go as expected, the selection committee may need to put on its big-boy boxers and make a tough decision.

A win over Clemson gives North Carolina the signature victory it’s sorely lacking, and the absence of which explains the Tar Heels’ No. 10 ranking.

The big question is who can still make the playoff and who can’t?

The SEC is out. The Irish dropped from fourth to eighth; Florida State and North Carolina moved up to Nos. That would open the door for Stanford or Ohio State, and again the guess here is the conference championship tips the scales to the Pac-12 victor.

Effectively out of contention after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Stanford on a last-second field goal. North Carolina has scored 38 or more points in eight of their 11 wins, including 66 against Duke and 59 against Miami. These two teams are very evenly matched, as they each average 33 points a game, around 400 yards of total offense, and around 340 yards allowed on defense.

Stanford (10-2, 8-1 Pac 12) could sneak into the playoff if it wins the Pac 12 and either Clemson or Alabama loses. Northwestern came in at #14 this week with a 10-2 record, (Another example of a major bounce back year for the Big 10) but the Badgers have fallen out of the rankings.

For example: If Alabama is in the playoff then Ole Miss, the highest rated SEC team after Alabama, would be slotted into the Sugar Bowl. Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State and Clemson would be 12-1, 12-1, 11-1, and 12-1 respectively.

Yes, conference champions from the Power Five conferences should get preferential treatment, but after leaving out TCU last season, don’t expect the No. 3 Sooners to get the same treatment this year.

Perusing the stats, Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard is usually asked to throw 20-something times per game and his numbers are OK, particularly his 14-3 on touchdown passes vs. interceptions.