5 takeaways from the Week 13 College Football Playoff rankings
The College Football Playoff committee unveiled the fourth installment of its rankings on Tuesday night.
Here are five takeaways from the latest offering:
1. Notre Dame needs help
Notre Dame had an extremely underwhelming performance in a 19-16 win over Boston College at Fenway Park over the weekend, and the committee rightly dropped the Irish out of the Top 4. The game wasn’t as close as the final score may indicate, but it wasn’t enough to merit keeping the Irish above the likes of Iowa, Oklahoma and Michigan State.
Now at No. 6, Notre Dame will need help to creep back into the Top 4, but first it needs to go on the road and knock off No. 9 Stanford – the highest-ranked two-loss team in Tuesday night’s rankings. On top of that, Stanford could be Notre Dame’s signature win, because right now, the Irish don’t have one (Navy? Temple?).
But a win over Stanford alone won’t be enough. Notre Dame needs someone ahead of it to slip up.
2. Win the Big Ten and you’re in, right?
Assuming Iowa (at Nebraska) and Michigan State (vs. Penn State) take care of business against inferior teams this weekend, the Hawkeyes and Spartans may be squaring off for more than the Big Ten title in Indianapolis on Dec. 5. A spot in the College Football Playoff will likely be on the line as well.
Think about it. If Iowa loses, it more than likely gets knocked out based on its strength of schedule. The Hawkeyes have taken care of business in a bad Big Ten West and its best wins are over Northwestern (by 30 points, too), which moved up to No. 16, and Wisconsin, which dropped out of the rankings altogether. Michigan State’s resume, with wins over Oregon, Michigan and Ohio State, is a whole lot more impressive, but a second loss (on top of a bad, late-game collapse at Nebraska) would be devastating for the Spartans’ chances.
3. There’s your respect, Big 12
We all know how things turned out for the Big 12 last year with Baylor and TCU both finishing outside the Top 4. And through the first three installments of this year’s rankings, it looked like the committee could be undervaluing the Big 12’s top teams again. Instead, it looks like those back-loaded schedules could really pay off now with Oklahoma making the jump to No. 3.
If the Sooners beat No. 11 Oklahoma State this weekend, they are presumably sitting pretty for one of the four spots in the playoff.
Baylor, at No. 7, also has a bit of hope to cling on to as well, but needs a lot of help, plus a win over TCU, to keep its slim hopes alive. Still, folks in the Big 12 have to feel a lot better about its chances of having a league member in the playoff this time around.
4. Why did Oklahoma jump to No. 3, anyway?
While we’re on the subject of the Big 12; is it a bit perplexing to anyone else that the Sooners moved all the way up to No. 3? Oklahoma beat then-No. 18 TCU by just a single point, 30-29, on Saturday night. Granted, the Sooners had a big lead before starting quarterback Baker Mayfield was pulled due to a concussion, but it still took a pass breakup on a last-minute two-point conversion try against a Horned Frogs team playing without its star quarterback to hold on to the win.
This isn’t a knock on Oklahoma as much as it is on the committee placing it at No. 3, ahead of Iowa and Michigan State.
Let’s compare resumes between the Sooners and Spartans.
Oklahoma: wins over No. 7 Baylor, No. 19 TCU and Tennessee (7-4); loss to Texas (4-6).
Michigan State: wins over No. 8 Ohio State, No. 10 Michigan and No. 17 Oregon; loss to Nebraska (5-6).
I’m not sure I can buy Oklahoma being two spots above Michigan State or ahead of an undefeated Iowa team.
5. The Group of Five spot in a New Year’s Six bowl is Navy’s to lose
At No. 15, Navy is clearly the top team from outside the Power Five conferences. Their path isn’t easy, but if the Midshipmen beat previously unbeaten Houston this weekend, win the AAC title and take care of business against lowly Army, they will earn that coveted New Year’s Six spot.
If Navy slips up, things could take an interesting turn. Toledo (No. 24) and Temple (No. 25) also cracked Tuesday night’s rankings. They would certainly be in the mix, as would Houston if it can rebound from its UConn loss with a home win over Navy and an AAC title game win over Temple over South Florida.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
