Irish in top 4 for CFP…for now

The Fighting Irish (8-1) moved up one spot into the projected final four after defeating Pittsburgh 42-30 on Saturday.

“Given how many games remain, how many conferences still have their toughest competition ahead, combined with the results of games played to date, we will continue to see teams move up, or down, by quite a bit week to week”. I get that LSU is a better win than Stanford’s best win (UCLA), but the disparity in ranking doesn’t add up.

The top four of the initial ranking released last week was Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and Alabama.

“It is really hard to judge those teams, and at this point in the season that is why you see Baylor where they are”, Long said.

“Five through eight was where we spend the majority of our time discussing and voting”, CFP selection committee chair Jeff Long said on ESPN.

But anyway: Iowa’s in the top five.

Follow the road to the 2015 College Football Playoff at The Football Four, our home to rate and debate the nation’s best. The Irish were already a favorite coming into the season but when original starting QB Malik Zaire got injured during the Virginia game, it seemed as if the team’s playoff hopes went down with him. It’s the top five teams in the country, plus a very special guest.

Iowa moved up four spots to fifth, and No. 6 Baylor is the highest-ranked Big 12 team.

The Atlantic Coast Conference finished its homework early, establishing the likely two teams in its conference championship game December 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In fact, if the committee is doing anything wrong with how it is approaching the Big 12 in general and Baylor in particular, it is that the Bears are overrated. “I think that they both are considered”.

The committee would hold a teleconference on December 12, after the Army-Navy game, and determine if it’s necessary to revise the December 6 rankings relative to Navy.

Top Four was relatively calm in week 10 while the rest of the board shuffled for position. The New Year’s Eve Orange and Cotton bowls serve as semifinals with the national title game to be played January 11 in Glendale, Ariz.

Meanwhile, the remaining games that comprise the New Year’s Six bowl games – Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Peach – will select the highest-ranked remaining teams that fill their criteria. The highest ranked conference champion from the Group of 5 conferences (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt) also will receive a spot. In No. 20 Navy, No. 21 Memphis No. 22 Temple and No. 24 Houston, the AAC has more ranked teams than the ACC and Pac-12 (three apiece).

Northwestern checks in at #18 this week, up from #21 last week, and the Badgers #25 ranking rounds out the Big Ten conference’s spots on the list. The Hawkeyes went to Ames in September and won 31-17, a game that was tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter but became a good victory for Iowa, because winning in Jack Trice Stadium is not always easy and is never easy for Iowa. USC, ranked just outside the Top 25 in both the AP and Coaches Poll, is not yet ranked in the CFP Top 25, but considering they are the first team within the “Other Receiving Votes” area in both polls, it’s safe to assume they are on the Committee’s radar as well.