Stanford vs. Notre Dame, The Irish for the National Title

This time? It’s the committee that’s doomed.

If the answers to those questions are “yes” and “no”, respectively, this is what we could potentially see. Small trip against Hokies but I take them to cover the points in the State Rivalry. Oklahoma’s junior quarterback has been the catalyst in the Sooners’ surge during the second half of the season.

Yeah, Oklahoma escaped TCU, just barely, when Sooners defensive back Steven Parker batted down a two-point conversion with 51 seconds left. When Notre Dame needed a play against Temple, he found Fuller for yet another game-winning touchdown.

The health of quarterback Baker Mayfield will be a key factor in the game vs. Oklahoma State this weekend.

That clearly changed the complexion of the game. His previous three appearances include a memorable showing in 2013 when he came off the bench to lead the Bulldogs to a bowl game in overtime.

Unless the Irish can do to the Cardinal what the Buckeyes did to the Badgers, it would be hard for the committee to explain reversing course on the Sooners at this point.

Can Baylor get back into it? The interesting twist here is that since Oklahoma is everyone’s favorite team right now, does that mean if the Cowboys pull off the upset that they will be in the final four?

No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes defeat No. 10 Michigan Wolverines handily in The Big House 42-13 Saturday. But finding that many teams with the required six wins may be unfeasible. This game will hinge on the Oklahoma defense and its ability to get pressure on quarterback Mason Rudolph, who was disrupted all game in the loss to Baylor. Final Score: Baylor 40, TCU 35.

Notre Dame (6th, 10-1) has won six straight game but saw their position in the College Football Playoff rankings drop from four to sixth last week, moving them out of the top four and consideration for a spot.

Navy’s loss Friday eliminates the chance it can play for next week’s AAC championship, which will now be hosted by Houston.

Ohio State’s offense is stuck in neutral, and Meyer is the one taking responsibility for fixing things in the week after the loss to Michigan State. They have not won in Starkville since some guy named Eli Manning made his last visit with the club.

In Les Miles’ 11th season as its head coach, Louisiana State entered November with an unbeaten record and a CFP berth squarely in its sights. If nothing else, it seemed to show the committee really wasn’t paying much attention to where the teams had been ranked the previous week. The number is at 71 right now, and there are 14 teams in need of one more victory, including four Big Ten squads – Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

It also wouldn’t surprise me to see Ohio State jump Notre Dame if the Irish beat Stanford, unless they flatten the Cardinal. It’s clear the committee has not been impressed. There is still the matter of No. 4 Iowa (12-0 after beating Nebraska) and whichever team meets the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game next weekend.

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. In 1984, BYU finished its season 12-0 and No. 1 after a 24-17 Holiday Bowl victory over a MI team that finished 6-6. Can the Cougars deal with the Midshipmen’s No. 2 rushing attack (348.4 ypg)? Baylor faced a good Kansas State team at home, posted a solid win, but still was being dragged down by its nonconference schedule and a loss at West Virginia, which finished in the middle of the Big 12. Neither is ranked now.

Larry Scott won’t know what to do if Stanford wins, then loses.

“That’s someone you want on your side forever because he is such an unbelievable leader and person on and off the field”, McCaffrey said. But a loss to Auburn or Florida, coupled with its home loss to Ole Miss, would knock out Alabama altogether.

Translation: Yes, we’re giving the Tide credit for beating all those teams that turned out to be not almost as good as their early rankings. We’re good with the first three.