AP Top 25: Iowa up to 3 behind Clemson, Alabama

Now, only two (Clemson and Iowa) remain without a loss, pitting a bevy of one-loss teams against one another to determine who will ultimately reach the College Football Playoff.

Iowa moved to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll (No. 5 College Football Playoff), taking advantage of the first losses by Ohio State and Oklahoma State to slip in behind No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama.

Since neither Oklahoma nor Notre Dame play in a conference championship game, there is nothing to separate them on that basis even after the regular season is over.

Utah dropped to No. 23 Tuesday in the latest rankings, falling 10 spots from its previous ranking at No. 13. Does a two-loss Pac-12 champion with wins over a possible four ranked opponents beat out a one-loss Big 12 team with a soft schedule? Even then a close win by Notre Dame this weekend and a Sooner blowout could push Oklahoma ahead in the final rankings. Auburn is bad, so it would be massive if they upset Alabama. After a wild week 12 headlined by then-No. The win in Week 5 against Ole Miss stands out, but the loss to an LSU team that has now dropped three straight would be a big check against the Gators.

Nov 21, 2015; Norman, OK, U.S.; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops reacts during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Again: The Cardinal has two games to win and needs help.

The team that imploded most spectacularly and improbably was the defending champion Buckeyes. Would an 11-1 non-division champ have a chance? I think they make it in if unbeaten on December 6, without much question.

That’s it. That’s the whole entire list of undefeated teams left in FBS, after Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Houston all went down Saturday. Penn State is talented enough to catch a break or two and beat the Spartans, handing them their second loss of the season.

On the next play, Stave was sacked for a loss of 10, which led to a ton of confusion.

“We were one of the top four after last week”. I say you can’t! “November games like this are a lot of fun, and that is what you come here for”. As previously mentioned, he was unable to return to the game against TCU due to a concussion, making his status against the Cowboys somewhat questionable at this point.

And alas, we come to the SEC. Each team has a quarterback situation that is less than satisfactory.

After no-showing vs MI State, Ohio State now travels to play MI.

Here’s how it might happen: If Oklahoma State defeats Oklahoma and Baylor beats both TCU and Texas to finish the season, the Bears will clinch the Big 12 title with an 11-1 record (thanks to the conference’s decision to install a tiebreaker after last season). A win at home against an unranked opponent isn’t exactly impressive, but their entire body of work this season has been impressive with wins against now ranked Notre Dame and Florida State. How would their resumes match up?

Notre Dame’s only loss is a two pointer at #1 Clemson in a hurricane.

This was a must-win situation for both teams and Mark Dantonio completely outcoached Urban Meyer. Oklahoma State wouldn’t be in after losing its first game of the season to Baylor at home, and the committee might hold out Notre Dame too after the Fighting Irish turned the ball over five times in a 3-point win over Boston College.