Oklahoma safely in playoff; Stanford, Ohio State are lurking

There’s hardly any difference between the College Football Playoff rankings for week 13 of the 2015 College Football Season and the hypothetical BCS standings, both having the same top four: Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa, while Michigan State, Stanford and North Carolina are waiting for their chance to get in. Would the CFP committee reward Ohio State and Oklahoma for not playing conference championship games rather than choose between one-loss Clemson and Iowa teams?

Stanford remains with an outside, albeit slim, shot at the playoffs and would need teams like Clemson and Alabama to lose in their respective conference championship games to have a real possibility at claiming one of the coveted four spots.

The ACC championship game on Saturday, matching Clemson and North Carolina, is notable for more than football reasons, although there’s no denying this particular contest’s compelling competitive merits.

The Big Ten championship game will serve as a de facto quarterfinal of the playoff, with the victor moving on to the four-team tournament.

Ohio State is No. 6, followed by Stanford, which moved up two spots after Saturday’s win over Notre Dame.

SEC Championship: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 18 Florida – CBS, 3:30 p.m: Do you like to root for chaos, or the extremely unexpected?

The last NY6 bowl slot is slated to go to the Big 12 runner-up, which will be designated by the conference’s tiebreaker. This year’s announced sellout, matching opponents from the two Carolinas, befits the border city that blends both states.

The only other team from the Group of Five conferences — Mountain West, Sun Belt, Mid-American and Conference USA — is Navy at No. 23, which is also from the American.

Behind Ohio State, Northwestern and MI sit at Nos. And if the Tar Heels win, nobody knows what happens.

However, should Clemson or Alabama stumble this weekend, that would open the door to a whole host of scenarios.

It’s not like I’ve seen every second of the college football season played out this season. From a committee? How do they make their decisions anyway? Considering losing teams is saying “you’re not good enough, but we’re inviting you because we’re desperate for people who will buy tickets”.

Much of America decried the selection of what were clearly two of the best teams of the century, not just the season.

The road to the College Football Playoff will make one more stop this week with three key conference championship games that will have a major impact on which four teams get in this season.

Michigan State fans and Orange Bowl organizers learned how quickly the CFP committee can change their minds a year ago, even without the hint of apparent cause. They seem like the more complete team as North Carolina has played a relatively easy schedule. The Cougars have the highest ranking of the non-Power Five schools, and they face 22nd ranked Temple in the AAC Title Game on Saturday. You have a Michigan State team that’s beaten Ohio State, Michigan and OR this season, though not always in resounding fashion, going against a 12-0 Iowa team that many don’t really believe in just yet.

Playoff chances: Clemson is the only team that could still make the playoff even with a loss.