Oklahoma, Iowa join mainstays Clemson and Alabama in CFP top four

Undefeated Iowa saw its dream season take a big step forward, as the selection committee slotted the Hawkeyes at No. 4 – the last team admitted to the sport’s playoff bracket – in its Week 12 rankings, revealed Tuesday night.

Clemson and Alabama remained in the top two spots, but previously unbeaten teams Ohio State (No. 3 last week) and Oklahoma State (No. 6 last week) dropped from to No. 8 and No. 11 respectively.

Big 12 – Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, TCU beats Baylor: The Bears stands to inherit the Big 12 title should Oklahoma State win, but with Jarrett Stidham now out for the regular season with a broken bone in his ankle, a win over TCU on the road is far from guaranteed. With wins this weekend, Iowa and Michigan State would meet in the Big Ten championship game in what would amount to a CFP play-in game.

Oklahoma: A one loss Oklahoma team winning the Big 12 might not be judged the way Baylor and TCU were last season.

Notre Dame’s eight point win over Georgia Tech looked great when they sent the Yellow Jackets to their first loss in Week 3. The Heisman hopeful had a concussion last Saturday against TCU and sat out the second half.

With Notre Dame up 19-3 and just 10:30 left to play in the game, the defense allowed an 80 yard touchdown run by Boston College quarterback Jeff Smith. If both win, that sets up a Big Ten championship game with unbeaten Iowa against Michigan State at 11-1.

Second, Michigan State needs to lose to Penn State. Well, Clemson (again the definitive #1 team in the land) beat the Demon Deacons at home by 20.

In my estimation, the best the Fighting Irish can hope for is to win convincingly at Stanford this weekend and hope that Oklahoma State wins and by a small margin. Oklahoma – which lost to Texas, which Notre Dame beat by 35 – could lose at Oklahoma State.

For the four teams below, Week 13 carries particular significance since they can either climb significantly in the polls or pass their biggest remaining hurdles on the schedule.

What if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, and Baylor beats TCU and Texas? But there’s an approach that’s permeated the team this week: Whatever hand-wringing there may be about Notre Dame’s current outside-looking-in status can’t affect how this team plays against Stanford.

The question is ultimately this for Notre Dame: will the committee favor a one-loss independent or a one-loss conference champion?

It’s crunch time for the Big 12, Big Ten, and of course Notre Dame.

Then, with the top three teams all losing and No. 5 in their respective title games – knowing what we know about the committee’s respect and admiration for conference championships – total chaos would take over.

If Oklahoma prevails Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., the Sooners win the Big 12 championship. Osweiler, in his first career start, guided Denver’s first turnover-free performance of the season in Sunday’s 17-15 win at Chicago. Final Score: Ohio State 24, MI 23. Ole Miss won’t crack the top four, while even a one-loss Florida may not have done enough to warrant inclusion.

It finally appears the Big 12’s backloaded schedule is an important talking point in the selection committee meeting room. The main wish is for Oklahoma State to defeat Oklahoma, which it did in Norman previous year. Northwestern moved up four spots to 16th, while Ohio State fell five spots to eighth and MI moved up two spots to 10th.

If the Crimson Tide wins Saturday against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, it would clinch the SEC West and move on to Atlanta for a game against Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

No. 4 Iowa at Nebraska: Nebraska, the spoilers of the Big Ten, gets to host the fight for the Heroes Trophy.

No. 14 Florida State at No. 10 Florida.