Iowa and Oklahoma Crack the Top-4 in Latest CFP Rankings

The Sooners jumped to No. 3 from No. 7 in the latest CFP Rankings.

Two weeks of rankings remain. And Penn State is good enough to take advantage of any MSU letdown. They have been the favorites for the number one seed since before the poll came out. Florida (10-1) 13. Florida State (9-2) 14. Stanford is ninth, then MI. That’s fine, but it doesn’t mean the Tar Heels don’t still have an outside chance at the playoff.

#2 Alabama: Alabama needs to win out as well.

Throwing in a little bit of the eye-test where needed, but, again, based on the CFP rankings and mostly on resume and CFP top 25 wins … The Sooners loss was the Texas and with the Big 12 now using head-to-head tiebreakers, they would be the conference’s one true champion. Oklahoma – which lost to Texas, which Notre Dame beat by 35 – could lose at Oklahoma State.

The top four teams in the final rankings released December 6 will qualify for the national championship playoff, with the semifinals scheduled for New Year’s Eve and the title game set for January 12 in Glendale, Ariz.

Alabama continues to get the benefit of the doubt over other one-loss teams and even undefeated Iowa. A win over Penn State would send Mark Dantonio’s team to the Big Ten title game, where it would face Iowa.

Notre Dame is fourth and Oklahoma is fifth. That’s the biggest obstacle, but far from the only one.

Temple (9-2, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) is coming off an impressive 31-12 win over Memphis this past Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. Lose to Stanford and their championship hopes are gone. The committee obviously didn’t penalize OU for playing against backup quarterbacks – Baylor was without Seth Russell, TCU was without Trevone Boykin. I dogged you last week, but this time around you did exactly what you’re supposed to do and got all over Florida for that game against FAU, and you correctly punished Notre Dame for looking bad at times in the win over Boston College. That ought to put Ohio State back in the playoff mix. But Ohio State would be in the heart of the discussion.

The Irish still have some strong arguments for inclusion into the playoff, should they defeat Stanford.

The Big Ten and Pac 12 have the most teams in the top 25, with five each. It’s the right thing to do.

Klatt was also surprised Ohio State was ranked as high as it was. They would probably jump the Spartans initially. Baylor can win the Big 12 title by winning its remaining games combined with an OSU victory over Oklahoma.

Saturday’s game against Florida State is an opportunity for the Gators to make a statement to the selection committee. Keep the Seminoles out of the conversation. Alabama and Clemson have the shortest odds, but both have to deal with a competitive championship game and a big rivalry game this week. But losing to Florida would be a clear elimination of the Seminoles.

Still not getting the respect they should for being undefeated, but the Hawkeyes are now positioned to make the playoff if they finish the season without a loss. They’re going to play for the conference championship anyway against North Carolina.

Iowa, the Big 12 champ, North Carolina and Florida? The clubs have not met as ranked opponents since 2012 and have not clashed as top ten opponents since their classic 1-vs-2 contest in 2006.