The latest College Football Playoff ranking has one glaring mistake

Oklahoma has been on a roll since their embarrassing loss to Texas. Of course, they’re not there … yet. The Bears sit at No. 3 in the coaches poll and No. 4 on the Associated Press list – but those measures dissolve into moot-ness once the playoff rankings arrive.

Each Tuesday night the college football playoff committee releases their latest rankings.

Temple’s resume is better than any other non-AAC resume that we’ll see in this half of the page, but if the Owls lose to Memphis, it could get really dicey.

For the purposes of determining quality wins, things like Top 10 and Top 25 are arbitrary numbers that do more harm than good. The Gators’ have looked pedestrian with the football since Treon Harris took over for the suspended Will Grier, and Florida is going to need to find the end zone often against Florida State and in the SEC title game. Alabama beat Mississippi State 31-6 and North Carolina beat Miami 59-21. “Three teams lost ahead of them, so we felt they needed to move up”. Their schedule is a joke, but it ramps up with MI State, the Wolverines at The Big House and Iowa in the Big Ten title game. If they win out, they are in. Their consolation prize for not winning the conference will be a matchup against a risky Notre Dame team that will be pretty heated after being left out of the playoff.

In fact, that stretch might even be enough to get the Bears higher than No. 4 in the nation, though the fact that they are fighting into the Top Four-whereas teams like Clemson and Alabama are already highly regarded enough to be in the Top Four-makes me think the highest Baylor will be ranked is No. 4 unless a few of the teams ahead of it suffer a loss. Alabama is 6-0 after losing to Ole Miss in early October with wins against Georgia, Texas A&M, and LSU. This past weekend was insane as four teams ranked in the top 10 – and eight in the top 25 – lost. Win out and Urban Meyer’s team could face an Iowa (10-0) team ranked in the top five in the Big Ten Championship Game. More: Is Iowa worth a top 5 ranking?

The Tigers hoped a return to Death Valley under the lights would be the remedy for a bounceback win from last week’s Alabama beating, but a talented, yet underachieving Arkansas team handed Les Miles and LSU their second consecutive loss.

Nov 7, 2015; Stillwater, OK, US; Oklahoma State Cowboys defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah (38) celebrates after the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Basically, it’s highly improbable and nearly impossible to imagine what would need to happen for that scenario to emerge. If those teams win, they will not only boost their respective résumés, but also make impressive closing statements. So MSU needs one or the other to lose in the regular season and then have the two-loss team win the championship.

There’s not a lot of consistency with the selection committee but if 11-1 Notre Dame gets compared to 11-1 Oklahoma, you figure common opponents will be considered. If Baylor wins out, I think that team will be Notre Dame, by a hair.

Help needed: None needed.

Ohio State, ranked fifth in the second to last rankings, won their conference championship game 59-0 and jumped TCU in the rankings to receive a spot in the playoff, and we all know the rest of the story from there. That’s where the Big 12 should be anxious.

If Notre Dame indeed does beat Stanford November 28, it’ll be a win over a team that’ll probably still be in the top 15 at the time.

MI still has a trip to Penn State next weekend before it welcomes Ohio State to Ann Arbor November 28. Keep in mind, all this talk hinges on every contender (Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame) winning out, which, chances are, won’t happen.

MI coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Jake still have a very outside shot to somehow sneak into the postseason. Thus far Ohio State is far from the indomitable force they were in 2014. With all due respect, fans of non-Power Five teams not named Memphis and of two-loss teams not named MI or Ole Miss are excused from the discussion.

So the vulnerable conferences are ACC, Pac-12 and Notre Dame.

So one loss Notre Dame vs. one loss Big 12 champ Oklahoma State, Baylor, Oklahoma or TCU?

“Oklahoma State had a good win”, Long said.