Playoff poll takeaways: Why committee values Oklahoma over Notre Dame

The Badgers, who checked in at No. 25 each of the past two weeks, suffered a home loss at the hands of the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday, and have fallen out of the committee’s good graces as a result. After Michigan State’s thrilling win at Ohio State on Saturday, the Spartans jumped to No. 5 in the rankings.

One-loss Oklahoma also made its debut in the top four Tuesday, ranked third. Iowa will jump Notre Dame because the Fighting Irish barely beat Boston College, but they will stay in the top-four after a win nonetheless. Iowa; 6. Oklahoma State; 7.

Oklahoma State’s 45-35 loss to Baylor dropped the Cowboys from fourth to ninth and pushed Baylor to seventh. After a thorough debate, I think the committee maintains the same order as the previous week, due to the fact than none of the metrics changed enough to warrant a shuffle, and while Oklahoma scored a big win, it became a close game despite TCU’s depleted roster and third string quarterback.

Oklahoma moved into the prized top four this week in the College Football Playoff standings.

Michigan State will host Penn State and, with a win, will play in the Big 10 Championship Game the following week.

In Les Miles’ 11th season as its head coach, Louisiana State entered November with an unbeaten record and a CFP berth squarely in its sights. But I’d bet, if it comes down to that either-or, Okies get the nod because of a year ago and because they’re a better looking team than anyone in the Big Ten.

Despite the seeming invincibility of Alabama (No. 2 AP) as of late, the Crimson Tide must still defeat rival Auburn in this week’s Iron Bowl to secure a spot in the SEC championship game opposite of Florida (No. 10 AP). However, the Sooners won both games against backup quarterbacks – just like Clemson’s two big wins over Notre Dame and Florida State-I-know-and-I-don’t-care-Maguire-really-is-the-No.

Let’s take a look at the projected top-four from the College Football Playoff Committee that will be released tonight. Clemson will face No. 14 North Carolina in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte on December 5. It’s a small move up the board, but any rise in the ranks is a big one this time of year. The best Baylor can do in the conference is tie with Oklahoma, the only team it has lost to at this point.

That has Big 12 fans understandably wondering if the league is setup for another fall from No. 3 even if the Sooners take care of business on Saturday in Stillwater. As such, an undefeated Big Ten team continues to be ranked over Oklahoma, a Big 12 team that despite having metrics superior to both Iowa and Notre Dame, suffered the worst loss of the group to 4-6 Texas.

No, the Irish didn’t play their best game of the season.

Jacksonville State (9-1) will play the victor of the Fordham and Chattanooga matchup on December 5. Notre Dame (10-1) 7.

No. 16 Navy (minus 1) at No. 21 Houston: Spot in the American championship game on the line…

Yesterday, we ran a blind CFB playoff poll of the potential resumes for teams that ultimately can finish with one loss. Following the Mids and rounding out the top 20 areNorthwestern, Oregon, Ole Miss, TCU and Washington State.