Notre Dame Falls To No. 6 In Rankings

Oklahoma and Iowa were rewarded for their steady and successful play Tuesday when both teams moved into the top four in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

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. The Buckeyes, who began the season as a unanimous No. 1 and slipped to No. 2 earlier this month, fell to No. 8. The Sooners face No. 11 Oklahoma State, which also is 10-1, this week.

Michigan State was slotted fifth and Notre Dame dropped out of a potential semifinal spot to sixth. For the third straight week, Clemson was No. 1 and Alabama was No. 2. Why Oklahoma up to No. 3?

From the Michigan State perspective, Tuesday marked the most important College Football rankings yet in their two seasons of existence, and those rankings didn’t refute – but also didn’t guarantee – the idea that the Spartans will be in with two more wins.

If the Buckeyes were sitting at 10-1 right now but they had lost that game at IN and beaten Michigan State last week, they’d be higher than their current No. 8 spot. If Baylor crushes the Longhorns and finishes 11-1, it’ll have two excellent road wins over Oklahoma State and TCU, a not-bad loss to Oklahoma, and if OU loses to OSU, it’ll be the One True Champion in the Big 12.

No. 5 Michigan State has to play Penn State this weekend.

For the unbeaten Hawkeyes (11-0), it represents their best ranking since being No. 3 in 2002.

Next, Oklahoma is in if they are the Big 12 Champion by winning against Oklahoma State. An Oklahoma State win over Oklahoma would solve plenty of problems, as would TCU knocking Baylor out on Friday.

The first two teams out of the playoffs are Michigan State and Notre Dame at Nos.

“But more importantly, how those teams played in those losses”.

No. 20 Washington State (off) at Washington: Status of Cougars QB Luke Falk (head) is uncertain… The Hawkeyes already earned their bid to the Big Ten title game, but they have one more regular season match up left. It would still be a tough sell to the committee to move the Bears ahead of a team like Oklahoma, but the bigger issue is one for the conference. Those four teams will still be placed into those games based on the CFP selection committee rankings.

Iowa State quarterback Joel Lanning (7) celebrates with wide receiver Quenton Bundrage, center, and offensive lineman Jake Campos (67) after Lanning ran the ball for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Kansas State, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, in Manhattan, Kan. The biggest detractor for Michigan State will be the loss at Nebraska.

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

TCU (9-2) dipped to No. 19, down from No. 16 last week, with its loss to the Sooners. An Alabama loss to the Tigers, coupled with a Mississippi win over Mississippi State, would put the Rebels in the championship game – likely ending any national championship hopes for the SEC as well.