Oklahoma grabs No. 3 spot
Oklahoma is No. 3 in the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings, putting the Sooners safely in position to be in the final four with their season completed.
The Sooners locked up the Big 12 championship with a blowout victory at Oklahoma State last week.
Committee chairman Jeff Long refused to speculate Tuesday night whether the Sooners could be moved out of the top four by Saturday’s results when the final rankings come out Sunday. But it’s plain to see Oklahoma should be OK. Of the four teams directly behind Oklahoma, two are playing each other (No. 4 Iowa and No. 5 Michigan State in the Big Ten title game for a spot in the playoff), one isn’t playing and can’t win a conference (No. 6 Ohio State) and another has two losses (No. 7 Stanford).
No worries of a repeat of last year for the Big 12, when it was the Power Five conference left out of the playoff.
“The fact that I think that most of the discussion and debate was above them and below them would indicate that their position at three was pretty solid with the committee” this week, Long said of the Sooners.
Clemson is still No. 1 and Alabama remained No. 2. Both the Tigers (12-0) and Crimson Tide (11-1) head into their conference championship games Saturday needing a victory to lock up a playoff spot.
“The committee debated long and hard about the No. 1 and No. 2 teams,” said Long, who is the Arkansas athletic director.
The top seed gets to play closest to home, so for Clemson a semifinal game at the Orange Bowl in Miami is also on the line against No. 10 North Carolina (11-1) in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
What happens if ...
Clemson loses to North Carolina and Stanford wins?
The most intriguing possible debate for the selection committee. It would put Ohio State back in play. The committee would have to slice and dice the resumes of the Tar Heels, trying to make a huge jump after winning a conference, the Cardinal, a two-loss conference champion with a top-10 win against Notre Dame, and the defending national champion Buckeyes.
Alabama loses to Florida?
The SEC is out. The Gators dropped to No. 18 after losing 27-2 to Florida State and an upset will almost certainly reflect poorly on the Crimson Tide, even though `Bama nearly moved into the top spot this week. That would open the door for Stanford or Ohio State, and the guess here is the conference championship tips the scales to the Pac-12 winner.
