Oklahoma climbs to No. 3 in CFP rankings, boosts its playoff hopes

Navy, 9-1 and 7-0 in the American, will travel to Houston (10-1, 6-1) on Friday to take on the Cougars for the American Athletic Conference West Division title. As long as the Tide continues to roll, I am good with anything.

Clemson remains atop the college football universe after an easy win over Wake Forest. So theoretically even if Notre Dame and Oklahoma win in the same fashion, the Irish should close some ground on the Sooners. The defense is also in the top 25 of the country in points allowed per game, which makes it the only team in the conference in the top 50 of that statistic. First-round games will be played November 28.

So, here are the poll results of the rank order of most to least selected, based on potential end-of-regular-season resumés. That might clinch a spot for the Irish because they (a) are Notre Dame and (b) have a better loss, on the road at Clemson, than any Big 12 team.

Meanwhile, the remaining games that compose the New Year’s Six bowl games – Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Peach – will select the highest ranked remaining teams that fill their criteria. A strong finish, and perhaps a Big Ten Title, along with some chaos above, could crack the door open for Sparty. The CFP might be setting them up to get there by placing them at number 9, but with plenty of room for moving up. 10-1 | at TCU on 11/28Beating Oklahoma State with a third string quarterback was huge for Baylor, but with the TCU game meaning little, it’s not CFP huge.

Of course, with Michigan State and Baylor winning, it was a pretty brutal weekend for Ohio State and Oklahoma State last week.

If committee members were looking for a reasonable alternative to Baylor on championship weekend before the final rankings a year ago, they found it in Ohio State.

Heck, at No. 3, it’s not insane to hope for elevation to the No. 1 seed. Not for Michigan State.

That won’t stop us from prognosticating, however, especially after Michigan State’s victory at Ohio State on Saturday, a game that nearly certainly knocked the defending champion out of the hunt while vaulting the Spartans smack into the middle of the conversation. And Oklahoma, which looked shaky in a home win over TCU without Trevone Boykin. “His focus is here at Notre Dame, and he wants to be here”. Iowa (11-0) 5. Michigan State (10-1) 6.

Florida, which has already won the SEC East, dropped four spots from to No. 12 after needing overtime to topple Florida Atlantic. 3 and 4, respectively, behind top-ranked Clemson and No. 2 Alabama.

The College Football Playoff committee gave Oklahoma football some much-appreciated validation. Following the Mids and rounding out the top 20 areNorthwestern, Oregon, Ole Miss, TCU and Washington State.

They have favorable comparative outcomes involving Texas (when comparing scores vs. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) and Pitt (vs. Iowa’s three-point win).

Asked about Oklahoma State’s loss to Baylor on ESPN Saturday night, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops suggested he would need time to process the implications.

And then there’s the chance North Carolina upsets Clemson in the ACC Championship Dec. 5. Notre Dame has beaten the committee’s No. 15 (Navy) and No. 25 (Temple).