Ohio State vs. Team Up North: The Trailer

Maybe not. It might depend on how willing the selection committee is to take two teams from the same conference.

The top four of this week’s College Football Playoff rankings look a lot like last week’s rankings. It’s an odd Catch 22: having to root for the team that could ultimately be the one that keeps you out.

Colorado’s solid win over Washington State kept the Buffaloes on the right track for an out-of-nowhere bid to the Playoff. Washington slid out of the elite top four.

Unbeaten Alabama remained No. 1, with Ohio State No. 2, Michigan No. 3 and Clemson No. 4. Thanks to a rule change by the Big Ten in 1971, Ohio State could return to the Rose Bowl with a win. It also hasn’t helped that TCU is 5-4, Texas 5-6 and Baylor 6-4. If we check Jeff Sagarin’s power rankings, we find that the Big 12 in toto ranks behind the SEC West, the Big Ten East, the ACC Coastal (!) and both divisions of the Pac-12.

For Ohio State, it must defeat Michigan and hope for Penn State to lose to Michigan State to make it to the Big Ten Championship game. Washington would have won a less hard conference, but again it would have one less loss.

The loss dropped Ohio State coach John Cooper’s record against MI to an unceremonious 1-7-1, which would swell to 2-10-1 before he was sacked after the 2000 season, the second of Michigan’s two wins in Columbus since 1992. Ohio State remains second followed by MI and Clemson. SC (6-4); December 3 ACC championship game. Mike Gundy has continued his campaign to reverse Oklahoma State’s 30-27 loss to Central Michigan (it came on a final play that never should have happened; officials incorrectly applied a rules and wrongly awarded an untimed down after a penalty).

With a win, the Wolverines would in fact earn a spot in the Big Ten title game and be another victory away from its first conference championship since 2004. And as of right now, it’s quarterback situation is cloudy at best. I believe they might, and if they’re successful, they will win the game. U-M and OSU have one loss so the victor of the game has the inside track to a CFP spot. Of course, Louisville lost to a Houston team that Oklahoma also lost to. Now, could the committee decide that it wants to put both Ohio State and the victor of that hypothetical title game matchup in the Playoff, perhaps at the expense of a Washington team with a middling SOS number?

The Heisman Trophy candidate might be playing Ohio State for the last time. In 1986, then the starting quarterback for Michigan, Harbaugh guaranteed a victory over the Buckeyes in Columbus to win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl.

There were no real surprises Tuesday night when the College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its weekly rankings.

The wind blew down Ohio States passing attack last week against Michigan State, but the Buckeyes escaped with a 17-16 win.

“The committee has been very impressed with Wisconsin from the LSU game up to the current week in the season”, he said. Terrell Newby has done some of his best and toughest running in recent games and he’ll need to do more of the same. “But we could either both be in the top five or we could both be 0-11”.

“Our job is to win football games”, Helton said. The victor of the Aggies-Tigers game on Thanksgiving will likely jump back into next week’s top 25. The only MI victory came in 2011 after Jim Tressel resigned as Ohio State coach in the wake of a scandal and Luke Fickell took over for one year before Meyer arrived.

Western Michigan and Toledo kickoff from Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan at 5pm ET Friday. But the highest ranked Group of Five champion will get the Cotton Bowl berth.

Technically, Florida still has a playoff chance. OK, no, Florida probably doesn’t have a chance.

Alabama again tops the list, maintaining its quest to become the first start-to-finish No. 1 in the short history of the Playoff rankings.

■ Ohio State coach Urban Meyer mentioned 44 of the Buckeyes had not yet taken a college snap.

No. 5 Washington remains in the hunt but faces a challenge in the Apple Cup against No. 23 Washington State. Things then would pretty much would boil down to Penn State vs. Washington.