Clemson is in. So are Alabama and Michigan State. Other than that, we’re one team from ending the debate of who makes the College Football Playoff.
In theory, anyway.
5 THINGS: ACC | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC
Oklahoma began this week at No. 3 after winning the Big 12, and all but locked up its spot last weekend. The only unknown now is the seeding. We'll know that Sunday at noon when the final rankings are announced.
A final Four In/Four Out:
Four In
1. Clemson: Wins over Notre Dame, Florida State and North Carolina, and of course, no losses. No-brainer: the No. 1 seed in the playoff and playing in the Orange Bowl in Miami.
2. Alabama: The Tide thumped Florida and solidified its spot. There will be debate about where Alabama should be seeded — there were some on the committee last week who believed Alabama should be No. 1 — but expect the Tide to stay in the No. 2 position and play in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
3. Michigan State: Here is where the committee rewards Michigan State for playing one extra game to win the Big Ten. The Spartans should jump Oklahoma into the No. 3 spot — and the reward is playing Alabama instead of Clemson. Choose your poison.
4. Oklahoma: There’s no reason to drop the Sooners to No. 4, but you can bet the committee will have one last dig at the Big 12 and its refusal to have a championship game like the other four Power 5 conferences. That, and having OU at the No. 3 spot would give the Sooners a competitive advantage of being three hours from Arlington, Texas.
HAYES: Clemson is nation's best | BENDER: Spartans have that championship feel
Four Out
5. Iowa: A gut-punch loss for the formerly unbeaten Hawkeyes. There’s no more doubt of this team’s worthiness; the Hawkeyes deserved their high ranking the last three weeks.
6. Stanford: An impressive win over USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game was the perfect capper to a team that began the season with an unthinkable loss at Northwestern, and battled back for three months to win another conference championship.
7. Notre Dame: A season of what could be. The Irish were a handful of plays from being unbeaten, and might have the most complete team in college football. But Stanford’s last-minute comeback last weekend ended any hope of finding a way to the playoff.
8. Ohio State: The problems began before the season even started when Urban Meyer named Cardale Jones starter over JT Barrett. Eventually, Meyer will admit as much. Just don’t expect him to do so until after the Buckeyes finish the season.