Notre Dame falls to sixth in College Football Playoff rankings

UNC would be a one-loss ACC champ (with two FCS wins and a awful loss to South Carolina).

No. 4 Iowa at Nebraska (12:30 p.m., ABC (13)): Fresh off replacing Notre Dame as the CFP’s No. 4-ranked team, the unbeaten Hawkeyes (11-0) will try to keep their playoff hopes alive against the Huskers (5-6).

What if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, and Baylor beats TCU and Texas?

#6 Notre Dame: Lose to Stanford this weekend. No. 1 Penn State (11-0) and No. 3 Oklahoma (10-1) faced each other in the Orange Bowl for what was advertised as the national title game. And Michigan State takes down Iowa in the Big Ten title game. Ohio State remains ahead of one-loss contenders Oklahoma State, Florida and North Carolina, and Urban Meyer’s team never lacks motivation against the Wolverines.

Playoff outlook: On life support. Again, this is something the Committee could see as a tight, hard-fought win over a then unbeaten opponent or will they see it as a closer than it should have been victory against a team who has been struggling to stay in the rankings since then.

Long said Notre Dame’s slip was “more about the performance of Oklahoma and Michigan State against top-ranked teams … that combination of them (Notre Dame) not playing well the last couple of weeks, combined with both those high-ranked wins for both Michigan State and Oklahoma propelled them up there”. So if the No. 1 seed goes to the Orange – which Clemson would and Alabama might – a third-seeded OU could be in nearby Arlington. Would a win over Alabama allow the Gators to jump all the way into the final four?

What if Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State this weekend? That includes beating Penn State at home this Saturday and taking care of Iowa in the Big Ten championship the following week. Anyone? Thought so. Boy, the playoff committee sure does love some Big Ten football. But if Michigan State loses to Penn State, the Ohio State-Michigan victor will get its own shot at the Hawkeyes. Beating the Seminoles in convincing fashion wouldn’t automatically get Florida into the playoff, but it would serve as a great prelude to the SEC Championship Game, where Florida could cement its playoff candidacy.

Michigan State (10-1) jumped four spots to No. 5 after the Spartans upset Ohio State 17-14 Saturday.

An Oklahoma win over Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series would virtually assure the Sooners of one of the four spots in college football’s version of the Final Four.

The Fighting Irish are suddenly on the outside looking in. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum typically discusses SEC football, but he couldn’t resist talking about the Big Ten. The season-long QB shuffle exploded in Ohio State’s face last week. TCU could beat Baylor, leaving only the Cowboys with one loss. (On a side note, I wonder why Oklahoma is getting so much more respect than Oklahoma State too but this article is about Notre Dame).

What if Alabama beats Auburn and Florida beats Florida State? Clemson is coming off a highly-emotional win over conference rivals, Florida State Seminoles, in Week 10. Navy has a big matchup against one-loss Houston this week.

The dip for the Irish was enough to make fans think they need help to make the four-team playoff.

No. 2 Alabama could somehow falter in its next two games against Auburn or Florida.

The 2006 Rose Bowl is the last time the BCS National Championship didn’t include the SEC champion, and the trend continued through the first year of the playoff. Even if this did happen, the committee could very well have a change of heart from past year on the whole “being a conference champion means the most” thing and decide to put in two-loss MI and/or Oklahoma in over two-loss Florida or one-loss North Carolina or Iowa.