Oklahoma, Iowa jump into Top 4 of CFP rankings

Last season TCU finished with a weak Iowa State team. They are four strong, national brands that would fill stadiums and have people glued to their TVs despite the semifinals being played on New Year’s Eve. Beat Florida State, win the SEC championship, get into the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma moved into third and Iowa was fourth in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. They’re going to play for the conference championship anyway against North Carolina. First off, the Irish don’t have the extra game to make a last and lasting impression with the committee on championship weekend.

Notre Dame fans will also be watching the Navy-Houston game with added interest.

Feldman thought the Spartans’ resume merited a spot in the Playoff. If Clemson wins, it keeps the Tar Heels out for sure. For this exercise, the Huskers pull off the upset and knock Iowa from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Penn State at No. 5 Michigan State, 3:30 p.m. ET: The goal is simple for Michigan State – win and you’re in.

Michigan’s playoff chances died with Blake O’Neill mishandled a punt and allowed Michigan State to win in the most improbable fashion imaginable.

The league left out of last year’s playoff, and one without a championship game, still has three teams – Oklahoma (No. 5 AP), Baylor (No. 7 AP) and Oklahoma State (No. 9 AP) – alive in the championship chase.

Oklahoma (10-1) handled TCU and finishes the regular season at Oklahoma State, which is 11th in the CFP rankings.

An Oklahoma loss and a Notre Dame loss could leave Baylor (9-1) and Stanford (9-2) vying for the last playoff spot as conference champions.

Bedlam is in Stillwater this year, which gives the Cowboys some help against the Sooners. Why Oklahoma up to No. 3? But, really, which teams can get it done?

Both pairs of these teams will play each other, Iowa and Michigan State/ Notre Dame and Stanford, and will effectively eliminate at least two from the equation, but OSU needs to jump three of these teams to make it to at least the No. 4 ranking. Falling out of the top four were predictably Ohio State (who now sits at No. 8) after losing to Michigan State on Saturday and, rather surprisingly, Notre Dame who now comes in at No. 6 after beating Boston College on Saturday. A win over Penn State would send Mark Dantonio’s team to the Big Ten title game, where it would face Iowa.

But what if North Carolina beats NC State and beats Clemson? Would closing out the season with wins over Florida State and Ole Miss be enough?

If you want even more chaos root for Auburn to defeat Alabama, or Bama to lose to an underwhelming Florida team in the SEC title game.

Clemson and Alabama remained the top two teams in the third-to-last committee rankings. But did you know that No. 2 Alabama is down to just one such victory – against No. 21 Mississippi State. Let’s take a look at this week’s rankings, shall we? Stanford all but ended the conference’s hopes of a playoff berth with its 38-36 loss to OR two weeks ago. The Cardinal will likely need lots of help from the other conferences to get in with two losses. Maybe. Florida dropped from eight to 12 after a terrible performance against Florida Atlantic, but it doesn’t matter. He had just two catches all season, but the 50-yarder from Everett Golson at Oklahoma was one of the key offensive plays in a season in which the defense produced most of the headlines.

This scenario is nearly assuredly not happening.

That has Big 12 observers understandably wondering whether the conference is set up for another fall from No. 3 even if Oklahoma takes care of business on Saturday. Florida (10-1), 13. Florida State (9-2), 14. McCaffrey is one of the most electrifying players in college football, a modern-day Reggie Bush, with the No. 5, versatility and Heisman-caliber resume to match the former Trojan.