It’s All Up to the OU Football Team Now

The Irish is at the center of most conversations. Similarly to Iowa, if the Spartans can win out and beat the Hawkeyes for the Big Ten title, they’ll make a strong case for a spot in the Playoff.

But Notre Dame does have a chance to redefine itself Saturday night, to clear up a schizophrenic November pocked with confusing scores, personnel shuffling due to injuries and a defense that’s statistically the worst among the top six in total defense (40th) and rushing defense (68th).

You can excuse the family of Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan for having a few mixed emotions when Hogan makes his final home start against Notre Dame. OR (8-3) 18. Ole Miss (8-3) 19. Notre Dame has one of the most storied programs in the United States with eleven football championships acknowledged by the NCAA and seven Heisman Trophy winners boosting their resumes. No. 25 Temple gives the American Athletic Conference three ranked teams, joining No. 16 Navy and No. 21 Houston. Now ranked fifteenth in the country, the Midshipmen are unexpectedly Notre Dame’s best win thus far. But the Fighting Irish passed on him, and he ended up at Stanford, where he is the Cardinal’s all-time leader in wins as a starter with 33 – better than Jim Plunkett, John Elway, and Andrew Luck. Granted, the victory was in the first week of the season, but it has to play some role in the Committee’s final decision.

Kelly said the Irish haven’t let the adversity bother them.

What could go either way?

And it’s not like Notre Dame’s offense didn’t do anything right against Boston College. Neither did a 28-7 win against 3-8 Wake Forest the week before in which the Irish were outgained. If the committee views this win as a quality win over an opponent who was undefeated at the time, it could help Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s comeback 41-31 victory over USC could be seen as one of two things.

A poor performance against Boston College at Fenway Park last Saturday cost the Irish two spots in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, announced Tuesday.

Once again, the No. 1 Clemson Tigers, and No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide remained at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings.

Oklahoma, Long said, essentially muted its loss to Texas by its impressive play recently.

Notre Dame’s problem is the fact Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State this week.

Iowa would be a one-loss Big Ten champ.

What if Penn State beats Michigan State, Michigan beats Ohio State and Michigan beats one-loss Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game – leaving everyone with two losses?

UCLA beats USC this weekend to win the Pac-12 South title and then beats Stanford in the Pac-12 title game to leave every Pac-12 team with three or more losses, shutting the conference out of the playoff and leaving commissioner Larry Scott befuddled.

Oklahoma, on the strength of a win against TCU, moved from No. 7 to No. 3 and unbeaten Iowa rounded out the top four.

The Sooners have everyone talking about them lately, and I have to believe OSU players and coaches are fed up.

Back to TCU: It’s worth noting that after losing to Oklahoma, the Frogs dropped this week only to No. 19.

Alabama: Very simple, as the number two team in the nation. Undersized cornerback Cyrus Jones has returned three punts for touchdowns in the past two games.

Alabama, ranked second, has a challenge this weekend at Auburn in the famed Iron Bowl. Championships have been won and lost in this game… that was then, this is now. In 2013, it worked so well they accidently found themselves playing for the national championship. Enjoying their best season in school history, Hawkeye fans felt maligned all year long and that they were not receiving the respect they deserved.

The world of college football is very exciting right now with the second set of College Football Playoff Rankings just released.