Oklahoma up to third, Iowa fourth in playoff rankings

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.

Clemson and Alabama remained the top two teams in the third-to-last committee rankings.

No. 11 Oklahoma State (10-1) didn’t build a solid non-conference resume and was dominated in it’s loss to Baylor. Oklahoma has recorded several big wins against Baylor and TCU recently so ideally; Oklahoma State would knock off the Sooners, one of Notre Dame’s biggest threats.

The Cowboys first loss of the season came at an inopportune time, but there lies a chance in chaos for the surprise dark horse from the Big 12 to make it the College Football Playoff. They’d have to work their way over Baylor and Notre Dame, but a clear-cut, one-loss conference champion probably has a stronger case. One member of the committee said “And yes, they held on to win that game against a ranked opponent, but certainly we evaluate that game based on the quarterback being out in the second half, and we believe that had an impact”. Oklahoma, Michigan State and Iowa all control their Playoff destiny should they win their conference championship games. If the Spartans lose, the victor of Ohio State-Michigan will play No. 4 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship. In the playoff world, if you must lose, take a loss to a mediocre team that can be labeled a fluke and then beat the good teams on your schedule. “I think those two drives are a great learning lesson for us and it’s just about trying not to let that happen again, that’s been our Achilles’ heel so it’s just trying to consistently improve on it”. Last week Oklahoma defeated TCU 30-29 at home, and only one team ranked ahead of them last week – Ohio State – lost. He’ll face a front led by DE Emmanuel Ogbah that ranks among the best in the Big 12 at pressuring quarterbacks.

Notre Dame routed Texas to open the season, while Okahoma’s only loss is to the Longhorns.

There is a lot of football to be played but things don’t look so good for Notre Dame right now.

Toledo: They need to beat Western Michigan to get into the MAC championship game. Both Alabama and Florida must win out to reach the CFP. The committee moved up the Sooners to No. 3 Tuesday night in its weekly rankings, and now the Sooners can go all Sally Field.

This is a big college football game that has huge national playoff and national championship implications.

Iowa, the Big 12 champ, North Carolina and Florida? Notre Dame is in Palo Alto, Calif., against the ninth-ranked Stanford Cardinal. Stanford (9-2), 10. MI (9-2), 11. Oklahoma has a road test at Oklahoma State while Notre Dame can jump back into the mix by beating Stanford on the road. With a victory, they still will need some help after falling from fourth to sixth Tuesday in the latest College Football Playoff rankings after a 19-16 victory against Boston College on Saturday at Fenway Park.

Help needed: If Penn State defeats Michigan State and Ohio State defeats Michigan, the Buckeyes are back in the conference championship game.

Iowa was ranked fourth, followed by Michigan State, Notre Dame, Baylor, Ohio State, Stanford and Michigan. They have already written themselves off to the spoiler roll, meanwhile Baylor, although coming off a loss, showed up to play at Oklahoma State and proved they are not out of playoff discussions just yet.