Ohio State jumps to No

The men of Troy are now the highest ranked three-loss team in the nation, sitting two spots above No. 15 Auburn, followed by LSU and Florida State.

Despite the losses, the trio didn’t wind up completely out in the cold.

MI remained third for a third straight week, despite suffering a 14-13 loss at Iowa on Saturday night. The Tigers ended up dropping two spots to No. 4 after losing to Pittsburgh. So the question becomes does the committee put them in simply because they are the conference champ even though they aren’t the best team in the conference?

Down the list, a couple of two-loss teams, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Penn State, could be unsafe if either wins the Big Ten championship. In addition to Ohio State and MI, the Wisconsin Badgers are number seven. Penn State, 9. Oklahoma, 10.

Ohio State ranked No. 6 in the first release and moved to No. 5 last week after a 62-3 victory over Nebraska. As a result, the Tar Heels fell out of the CFP rankings altogether.

A win over Kentucky propelled Tennessee (7-3) back into the rankings as the Vols wind up at No. 19. MI beat Penn State 49-10 earlier this season and holds that tiebreaker. Michigan’s (at Iowa) and Clemson’s (to Pitt at home) were to unranked teams. “It’s not within the purview of the Selection Committee to determine wins and losses”, Hocutt said. The Lions would get to the conference title game if they win out and MI loses one more time, which could come in the regular-season finale at Ohio State.

Western Michigan is the only other remaining unbeaten team, at 10-0, and never had much of a shot to creep into even the fringes of the playoff picture, because of its strength of schedule.

Ohio State was the biggest beneficiary of all the upsets at the top of last week’s rankings.

“The committee spent a great deal of time this week talking about West Virginia”, Hocutt said before citing that lone match, and loss, against a top-25 team. Wyoming is a home underdog to San Diego State this week. They got smacked by MI in their fourth game of the season, and they also have a loss to Pitt.

But what if Wisconsin wins the Big Ten?

Credit Ohio State Urban Meyer for not getting caught up in a conversation that’s going to intensify over the next two to three weeks if the chalk holds in the Big Ten East Division race. Perhaps the most surprising part is that MI jumped both the Tigers and Cardinals. The Sooners also have a game remaining against Oklahoma State to close out the regular season. The Cardinals have a potential Heisman Trophy victor in quarterback Lamar Jackson, but will need to win out and hope for another Clemson loss. Of course, we have to let it play out. They do have one of the most impressive wins in the country, but it was against one of only two ranked teams on their schedule. However, either Ohio State or MI is going to fall out following their rivalry game, so things are still ready to get wild. At Nos. 20 and 21 are Boise Stateand Western Michigan, in a battle for a New Year’s Six bowl berth.

In the latest ranking, Alabama is still the clear No. 1 team as the lone undefeated team from a Power-5 conference.

Games remaining: Saturday vs. Chattanooga (8-2); November 26 vs.

Fiesta Bowl (CFP semifinal): No. 2 Ohio State vs.

No. 10 Colorado and No. 22 Washington State seem every bit as worthy of national attention as Washington and No. 12 Utah.