Badgers Remain Out of Week 13 College Football Playoff

Iowa is fourth and Michigan State is fifth, with Ohio State sixth and Stanford seventh.

Clemson maintained its five-week hold on the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff selection committee top 25 ranking Tuesday, and the Big Ten is holding down the No. 4, 5 and 6 spots this week.

The big weekend in college football is nearly here, where nervous fans (and travel agents) are glued to watching the end of a long season. The Cardinal will likely need to secure a convincing win as well as for Clemson, Alabama and Michigan State to all lose in order to have a chance.

On Monday, head coach Larry Fedora spoke his mind saying the Tar Heels should be in the final four if they beat Clemson. However, after a disappointing performance last week at SC where they eked out a 37-32 victory, a close win over North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game coupled with a dominant Alabama performance in the SEC Title Game may result in Clemson dropping to #2 in the final rankings.

He realizes Ohio State needs help, though. One might think that if Clemson, Alabama and Oklahoma lose their games, it opens up a seat for the Buckeyes. No. 2 Alabama faces No. 18 Florida for the SEC title in a similar win-and-in situation.

Texas at #12 Baylor (-20.5) – Hoping the game isn’t played in a mosh pit like last week’s Baylor / TCU contest. The only undefeated Power Five conference champion will be in the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. The Tar Heels conference title would give them a huge boost and then it becomes a resume test between the Tigers and Buckeyes. Even worse are the two FCS wins over North Carolina A&T and Delaware.

Clemson retained the top spot this week in spite of a lackluster win over woeful SC. Iowa have three such ratings (even #14 on Sagarin) but they’re number one on two others.

The Oklahoman’s Kyle Fredrickson talked to some members of that team about what a playoff could have meant to them for a story in Saturdays editions.

Should North Carolina complete the unlikely, and Florida achieve the seemingly impossible, the Playoff committee better have plenty of Excedrin on hand, though.

The American Athletic Conference championship game between Houston and Temple should also send the victor to a New Year’s Six bowl game, probably the Peach Bowl.

You could certainly have made an argument for the Sooners to jump Alabama after a dominating road win against Oklahoma State, but this may be where Oklahoma belongs considering it was ranked a bit too high coming into the game. Notre Dame is 10-2, no small achievement given the injuries that would have decimated most teams.

“We had great debate about Iowa and Michigan State, and again, similarly, I thought from the conversation in the room that a vote may have put Michigan State in front of Iowa”, Long said. Utah is one of four teams ranked from the Pac-12 this week, with Stanford leading the conference at No. 7.