Alabama 2nd in College Football Playoff rankings

The committee’s list is and will continue to be fluid. While the Hawkeyes surged ahead of the Bears, they are still the second Big Ten team in the rankings. Meanwhile, undefeated Baylor remains sixth. The Oklahoma defense leads the Big 12 in most categories, but their offense is more than capable of matching Baylor’s explosiveness in a potential shootout in Texas.

If Florida, which only has one-loss and has already clinched the SEC East, wins out, it’d likely make the playoff.

The Bulldogs title hopes were dashed by the Tide last season when Nick Saban’s group handed them their first loss of the season in mid-November. Alabama (8-1) 3. Ohio State (9-0) 4.

Navy 45, No. 13 Memphis 20: There were a few rumblings about an undefeated Memphis sneaking into the playoffs if things fell just right.

Notre Dame is tied with Clemson, Alabama and Iowa for most wins against Top 25 opponents with 2.

But since that drubbing at the hands of Notre Dame – that was a 30-7 game before Tech scored two late touchdowns – Georgia Tech has lost five of their last six games and the only win came via a last-second blocked field goal return for a touchdown against Florida State. But ultimately their resume will be built on three games – MI State, Michigan and the conference title game. Are we getting so subjective as to try and determine how much a physical game affects a team the next week?

The biggest debate on the ranking is the number four spot. The Bears will host Oklahoma and an improving Texas squad, while visiting Oklahoma State and TCU.

Not only does it have two wins over Top 25 teams (No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 16 Florida State), it also faces one of the toughest schedules of all the teams in the rankings.

The Cougars finally get a chance to show they are for real this week against Memphis. Can someone really claim that just because Iowa has zero losses, they are a better football team than Alabama? That’s kind of why they held their place. Part of that was because three teams ahead of the Hawkeyes lost. “We’ll have a clearer picture on Baylor in the future”. Remember how Notre Dame was supposed to be in the dumps after losing starting quarterback Malik Zaire in Week 2? Somebody deserving will ultimately be left out.

“It’s a recognition by the committee that they were increasingly impressed by Iowa and their body of work”, Long said. Clemson wins 34.2% of all the simulated tournaments. Notre Dame and Alabama each have one loss but have impressed the committee with schedule strength.

The same is probably true for the Crimson Tide. 2 Alabama Saturday, while Ohio State is ranked third and Clemson maintains the top spot.

Follow the road to the 2015 College Football Playoff at The Football Four, our home to rate and debate the nation’s best.

If Alabama wins out, they will undoubtedly make the playoff, but if Notre Dame wins the rest of their regular season games, there’s no guarantee they will still make the playoff. Awaiting them will be the Cowboys, who will have a lone loss against Baylor. Would the Buckeyes still get the benefit of the doubt as a one-loss conference champion? That would send them to step three in the Big 12’s tiebreaker rules: scoring differential in games amongst them. Clemson being the top team gets an easier matchup against Notre Dame in the semifinals.

Compared to Week 10, Week 11’s schedule is considerably light. Alabama has averaged over 36 points per game during their five previous encounters with ranked teams this season, and scores 33.1 points a game overall. Pay close attention because we’re going to see who is the cream of the college football crop as the season comes to a close.

Outside, waiting for an open door, sits No. 6 Baylor, which got passed over for the No. 5 spot. So, looking at that fourth spot means figuring out which conference gets eliminated.

The full schedule is below.

With just one start under his belt, not much is known about Jarrett Stidham.