Iowa, Oklahoma State Can Still Crash The College Football Playoffs

Things like strength of schedule, quality performance over ranked teams and.

Due to No. 11 Stanford and No. 13 Utah losing, the PAC-12 doesn’t have any teams in the Top 10.

The Crimson Tide are the best team in the SEC, again. “We’ve got to think about Boston College and what’s important to us”. Truth is, despite the rankings, No. 7 OU is probably the best bet to represent the Big 12 in the playoff.

Oregon State: The Beavers have fallen off the cliff in Gary Andersen’s first year with a 2-8 record, 0-7 in the Pac-12.

FYI: Oddsmakers offer this top five: Henry (2-1); Elliott (4-1); Watson (5-1); Fournette (6-1) and Baylor WR Corey Coleman (22-1). The 30-27 win over Texas wasn’t almost as dominant as Notre Dame’s opening day win. It was still the lowest ranked unbeaten Power Five team and had three one-loss teams out in front. The No. 19 Houston Cougars aren’t even the highest ranked team in the conference.

Utah (8-2, 5-2) takes on UCLA (7-3, 4-3) this Saturday. USC being in the Top 25 is key for Notre Dame. Following a sloppy 10-6 loss to Iowa, which probably will cost them a shot at the B1G title game, the Badgers have rattled off five consecutive wins.

All the Irish can control is winning games.

“Our team has a vision, and we have a mission we want to accomplish, and we see it”, Irish Captain and Center Nick Martin says.

If it comes down to Notre Dame and Oklahoma, two of the most storied programs in college football, brand bias should not be a problem. Iowa (10-0) is fifth followed by Oklahoma State (10-0), Oklahoma (9-1), Florida (9-1), MI State (9-1) and Baylor (8-1).

Nov 14, 2015; Ames, IA, US; Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback J.W. Walsh (4) carries the ball to score a touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones in the fourth quarter at Jack Trice Stadium.

Oklahoma still has No. 18 TCU on the schedule and Oklahoma State plays Baylor this weekend. It would really help if they loss once over the next two weeks.

ESPN’s David Pollack asked an interesting question last night, one that I am curios to know the answer to.

The Buckeyes have cruised through this season. That personnel, more than anything, makes them a formidable postseason opponent, but they have to get past MI State and MI first.

Iowa stayed at No. 5 and Oklahoma State moved up to No. 6, one spot ahead of Big 12 rival Oklahoma. Baylor is likely out based on its loss to the Sooners and its incredibly weak schedule.

The Big 12’s playoff prospects have shifted from the banks of the Brazos to completely north of the Red River into Oklahoma, where the Sooners are surging and Oklahoma State is still undefeated. To boost Notre Dame’s resume. If they do, they could control their own destiny. Next week’s poll will be critical for the Irish.

But there is a way for the committee to send a message even louder than past year – when the Big 12 was left out of the playoff – and penalize Notre Dame because the school believes joining a conference would tarnish the Golden Dome.

Beyond that, they could suffer the wrath of the conference title bump. There are still two to three games left in the season, and a few tough matchups remaining. Kansas hanging with TCU, too, makes me think the Big 12 teams are not true elite squads. If the Sooners do it, they will have beaten a Top 10 team on the road. The injury to Seth Russell has allowed Linwood to showcase his talents on a bigger stage and the Bears will need him to step up to the plate against the undefeated Cowboys.