Four Big Ten teams are in the College Football Playoff top ten

Again, we begin with this important public service announcement: These rankings are meaningless.

The new college football playoff rankings are out, and it’s finally one I can agree with. If all three were to win this weekend, Pitt will likely be ranked in the top 25, Temple should move up closer to the top 20, and Navy will likely creep up into the low teens.

“And I’d like to have a little bit more of a killer instinct, as a football coach”.

It inevitably raises more questions, which we’ll attempt to answer. The Irish may also have to do without running back C.J. Prosise, who suffered an injury in their game against the Eagles and is questionable for Saturday’s game.

As Ohio State and Oklahoma State lost last Saturday, Oklahoma survived a 30-29 victory at home over depleted TCU.

The Utes were No. 3 midway through October, but are 2-3 since. If one of these teams can notch a definitely win, they can possibly vault themselves into the Top Four conversation. Remember, the Horned Frogs dropped out of the playoff picture after a 52 point win.

That clearly changed the complexion of the game. But did you know that No. 2 Alabama is down to just one such victory – against No. 21 Mississippi State. “And yes, they held on to win that game against a ranked opponent, but certainly we evaluate that game based on the quarterback being out in the second half, and we believe that had an impact”.

At this point previous year, Ohio State was sitting at No. 6 in the committee’s ranking. Yes, special teams are part of the equation but can someone honestly tell me that they have seen an ending like that in recent memory? Florida isn’t even in the top 10.

If No. 7 Baylor loses at No. 19 TCU…

Ohio State and Notre Dame each got knocked out of the top four spots in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings but they’ll both get a chance to climb back into the mix on Saturday, when the No. 8 Buckeyes take on No. 10 MI at The Big House and the No. 6 Fighting Irish face No. 9 Stanford. Also notable, though unlikely: If Alabama loses to the Tigers and Mississippi defeats the aforementioned Mississippi State, then Alabama doesn’t even make the trip to Atlanta for the SEC title game.

Last season, Texas Christian was third in the second-to-last playoff rankings and slipped to sixth in the final rankings, behind Ohio State and Baylor.

Is the committee consistent in its treatment of unimpressive wins? Stanford all but ended the conference’s hopes of a playoff berth with its 38-36 loss to OR two weeks ago. And the answer was: Yes. Florida State 14. North Carolina 15. But, really, which teams can get it done? It’s clear the committee has not been impressed.

Michigan State’s No. 5 ranking should excite Big Ten fans, as it means the conference should be able to get a team in the playoff.

The Pac-12 South is down to a two-team race as No. 22 UCLA and USC are tied at 5-3. The Tide will come a long way with Henry powering the team. Johnson feared that a win over 8-1-2 and No. 8 Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl would not be viewed as favorably by voters, so he began his campaign. Neither is ranked now. Earlier in the season, Navy beat UConn 28-18.

The same might be said of Iowa and Michigan State.

“I think if you look at the teams across the board we’ve played, from the start, in September, all the way through November, we’ve played a very good schedule”. “How they played in that game, the closeness of that loss is something that’s discussed”.

Yesterday, we ran a blind CFB playoff poll of the potential resumes for teams that ultimately can finish with one loss. The Cowboys will need to be a lot better against the run in order to have a shot.