Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Oklahoma falls to No. 11 in latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

The Sooners weren’t punished much for losing 37-33 at Oklahoma State. OU fell two spots to No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Oklahoma fell outside of the top 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after losing its regular season finale at Oklahoma State, 37-33. The Sooners dropped two spots to No. 11.

There was no change in the top two spots. Georgia remained the unanimous No. 1 after finishing off its perfect regular season with a 45-0 shutout of Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, Alabama stayed at No. 2 despite needing four overtimes to outlast rival Auburn, 24-22.

Michigan is up three spots in the poll to No. 3 after finally beating Ohio State, 42-27. In the process, the Wolverines snapped an eight-game losing skid in the rivalry. Michigan senior running back Hassan Haskins carried it 28 times for 169 rushing yards and scored five rushing touchdowns against the Buckeyes.

Cincinnati is ranked No. 4 as the Bearcats also polished off a perfect regular season with a 35-13 victory over East Carolina. Oklahoma State moved up two spots to No. 5 to round out the top-five teams nationally.

The rest of the top 10 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll looks like this: Notre Dame at No. 6, Ohio State at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 8, Baylor at No. 9, and Oregon at No. 10.

The Fighting Irish will be in the conversation for a College Football Playoff berth. Notre Dame ended its regular season by thumping Stanford, 45-14. Now, the Irish can sit and wait to see if they get any help on conference championship weekend.

Oklahoma’s No. 11 ranking matches its lowest spot in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll this season. The Sooners await their bowl destination after the loss to the Cowboys knocked Oklahoma out of defending its six-consecutive Big 12 champion status.

Here’s a look at the full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Rank Team Record PTS 1st Prev Chg Hi/Lo
1 Georgia 12-0 1550 62 1 — 1/5
2 Alabama 11-1 1440 0 2 — 1/5
3 Michigan 11-1 1408 0 6 3 3/NR
4 Cincinnati 12-0 1399 0 4 — 2/10
5 Oklahoma State 11-1 1285 0 7 2 5/23
6 Notre Dame 11-1 1250 0 5 -1 5/13
7 Ohio State 10-2 1133 0 3 -4 3/12
8 Mississippi 10-2 1097 0 8 — 8/25
9 Baylor 10-2 1046 0 10 1 9/NR
10 Oregon 10-2 932 0 11 1 3/12
11 Oklahoma 10-2 851 0 9 -2 2/11
12 Iowa 10-2 845 0 12 — 2/18
13 Michigan State 10-2 840 0 13 — 6/NR
14 Brigham Young 10-2 741 0 15 1 10/NR
15 Pittsburgh 10-2 640 0 17 2 15/NR
16 Houston 11-1 607 0 16 — 16/NR
17 Utah 9-3 596 0 19 2 17/NR
18 Wake Forest 10-2 531 0 21 3 9/NR
19 San Diego State 11-1 396 0 22 3 19/NR
20 NC State 9-3 334 0 24 4 18/NR
21 UL Lafayette 11-1 268 0 23 2 21/NR
22 Kentucky 9-3 226 0 25 3 11/NR
23 Texas A&M 8-4 202 0 14 -9 5/NR
24 Clemson 9-3 170 0 NR 3 2/NR
25 Arkansas 8-4 128 0 NR 1 11/NR

Schools dropped out

No. 18 Wisconsin; No. 20 Texas-San Antonio.

Others receiving votes

Wisconsin 100; Texas-San Antonio 36; Appalachian State 30; Air Force 16; Minnesota 13; Purdue 11; Utah State 8; Coastal Carolina 8; Penn State 5; UCLA 3; Fresno State 3; Mississippi State 2.
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5 takeaways from the latest College Football Playoff Rankings

Did the latest College Football Playoff rankings open the door for the Oklahoma Sooners or Oklahoma State Cowboys? Here are 5 takeaways.

The Oklahoma Sooners win over Iowa State coupled with losses by Oregon and Michigan State gave the Sooners a bump in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings. The Sooners moved from 13 to 10, lining up a Bedlam matchup of top 10 opponents heading into this weekend.

The potential exists that Bedlam and the Big 12 championship game will be between two teams in the top 10, depending on how things play out this weekend.

If the Baylor Bears beat Texas Tech as they should, they’ll remain in the top 10. If Oklahoma State wins, it will set up a top 10 matchup between the Cowboys and the Bears for the Big 12 title next Saturday. If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, it’ll likely keep both teams in the top 10 ahead of a rematch in the Big 12 title game.

Some fascinating stuff at work in the Big 12 this weekend and across the country, much of which could determine how the final rankings play out here in a couple of weeks. Here are 5 takeaways from the fourth round of the College Football Playoff rankings.

Oklahoma Sooners jump three spots to No. 10 in latest College Football Playoff rankings

Oklahoma is back inside the top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings. The Sooners enter Bedlam ready for a top-10 showdown.

With the latest College Football Playoff rankings out, Bedlam between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State is officially a top-10 showdown in all three rankings.

The Sooners jumped up three spots to No. 10 after hanging on to beat Iowa State, 28-21. Oklahoma had one of its best defensive days against the Cyclones. OU harassed ISU senior quarterback Brock Purdy to the tune of seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss and three turnovers.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State took care of business at Texas Tech and jumped a pair of spots to No. 7 nationally. The Cowboys defense continued the tear that unit has been enjoying of late. OSU pitched a shutout in its 23-0 victory and held the Red Raiders to just 108 total yards of offense.

It was the first time Texas Tech had been shutout in any game since a 1997 game at Nebraska and the first time in a home game since Arkansas did so in a Southwest Conference game back in 1987.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State got more good news in the form of Baylor’s ranking. The Bears beat Kansas State, 20-10, and moved up to No. 8 in the latest CFP rankings.

There was no change at the top. Georgia has been ranked No. 1 in each of the four CFP rankings in 2021. Fresh off its 56-7 beatdown of Michigan State, the Ohio State Buckeyes supplanted Alabama with the No. 2 spot.

Alabama dropped one spot to No. 3 and then Cincinnati rounded out the top four by checking in with the highest-ever ranking for a group of five school at No. 4 nationally.

Just on the outside looking in were No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Notre Dame. The rest of the top 10 went as follows: Oklahoma State at No. 7, Baylor at No. 8, Ole Miss at No. 9 and Oklahoma at No. 10.

Here’s a look at the full top-25 CFP rankings.

It’s no guarantee that OU makes it into the final CFP top four, but it’s apparent that Oklahoma can pick up a pair of quality wins this week and next if the Sooners can beat Oklahoma State twice.

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Where does Oklahoma stand in FiveThirtyEight’s College Football Playoff projections entering Bedlam?

Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff chances improved after its 28-21 win over Iowa State. How does FiveThirtyEight view OU this week?

Oklahoma rode one of its strongest defensive performance of the season to a 28-21 win in the Sooners’ home finale over Iowa State.

Defensively, OU recorded seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss and forced three Iowa State turnovers. Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Jalen Redmond returned Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy’s fumble just before halftime 42 yards for Oklahoma’s first defensive touchdown of the season.

It sets up a Bedlam showdown for the ages. OU and Oklahoma State each enter ranked inside the top 10 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

The winner in Stillwater would go a long way toward securing a potential College Football Playoff berth. FiveThirtyEight uses statistical analysis for polling and predicting results.

It’s become a popular tool by ESPN and other media entities to prognosticate who the future College Football Playoff participants will be, what bowl game matchups might look like and which teams will win on a given week.

Last week, FiveThirtyEight gave the Sooners a 17 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff. Let’s take a look at how FiveThirtyEight views Oklahoma’s chances following the Sooners’ 28-21 victory versus Iowa State.

According to FiveThirtyEight, the Sooners’ chances to make the College Football Playoff improved by 6 percent after beating the Cyclones. Overall, Oklahoma has the seventh-best odds to reach the College Football Playoff.

Georgia has the overwhelming best odds to reach the playoff at 82 percent. Next is Alabama with 59 percent chances.

The big news this week was Cincinnati’s jump. The Bearcats saw an 18 percent improvement in its chances to make the College Football Playoff. Cincinnati beat SMU 48-14 and now possesses the third-best odds to get into the CFP with a 52 percent chance.

After that, it’s Ohio State with a 49 percent chance, Oklahoma State at 43 percent, Michigan at 31 percent and then Oklahoma.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Oregon saw the biggest drop in its chances to make the College Football Playoff after losing to Utah, 38-7. The Ducks’ percentage chances to make the CFP fell from 41 percent last week to just 18 percent this week.

With a win in Bedlam on Saturday, Oklahoma would likely sit with no worse than the fifth-best odds next week. If that unfolds, the Sooners would knock Oklahoma State out of the picture and leapfrog the loser of the Ohio State-Michigan game.

And, if Oklahoma can beat Oklahoma State twice, it looks like the Sooners would be in great shape to make the College Football Playoff.

Using the FiveThirtyEight predictor, Oklahoma’s chances to make the College Football Playoff would be at 81 percent to get into the CFP under the scenario where Oklahoma, Georgia, Cincinnati, Ohio State and Notre Dame all win out.

If all of those same teams win out but Alabama beats Georgia, FiveThirtyEight still has the Sooners with a 77 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff.

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Oklahoma Sooners rejoin the Top 10 in latest AP Top 25 poll

The Oklahoma Sooners land in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 poll after their week 12 win over the Iowa State Cyclones.

After putting the clamps on a tough and scrappy Iowa State team they’ve had problems with over the last few years, the Oklahoma Sooners walked out victors on Saturday afternoon.

Michigan State and Oregon were routed, making Oklahoma’s close win feel that much better, and cracks the door to get back into the College Football Playoff picture.

It ended up being a favorable weekend for Oklahoma as they see themselves move up in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. With the Sooners win and losses by the Oregon Ducks and Michigan State Spartans, Oklahoma rose from 12th in the polls to 10th.

It’s a small jump numerically but the implications are enormous considering how the rest of the poll shakes out. The Georgia Bulldogs remain steadfast at number one, while Ohio State leapfrogged Alabama after the Buckeyes decimated the Michigan State Spartans in a matchup of top 10 teams.

Alabama moves to three after narrowly escaping the Arkansas Razorbacks at home while Cincinnati finds itself at four after beating SMU and former Oklahoma quarterback Tanner Mordecai. Notre Dame and Michigan are five and six respectively while Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, and Baylor round out the Top 9.

The stage is now set for one of the biggest Bedlam matchups in recent memory. Two top 10 schools from the state of Oklahoma getting ready to play for first place in the Big 12.

A win by Oklahoma gives them their first top 10 win of the year and would lock them in to a spot to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys again in Arlington, Texas for the Big 12 title.

The AP Poll is far from an indicator as to how the College Football Playoff rankings play out but if the Sooners were able to land at 10 in the CFP rankings it would only make the dim flame on Oklahoma’s CFP chances become bigger and brighter.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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Penn State’s next opponent drops out of top 10 of USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Penn State’s next opponent, Michigan State, knocked out of the top 10 of the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

It is still going to be an uphill climb for Penn State to work its way back into the top 25 polls, but the Nittany Lions are still on the radar for at least a few coaches out there. Following Penn State’s 28-0 victory over Rutgers in Week 12, Penn State managed to make a late appearance in this week’s USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Penn State received a grand total of 22 points n this week’s poll, making the Nittany Lions the fourth among those in the Others Receiving Votes category. Arkansas, Clemson, and Mississippi State all come in front of Penn State just outside of the top 25 this week.

Penn State will head to Michigan State this week, and the Spartans will be looking to redeem themselves in a big way. After getting demolished don the road by Ohio State, the Spartans dropped five spots out of the top 10 and down to No. 13 in this week’s coaches poll. But there were others who took a bigger stumble this week.

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No. 11 Oregon also fell out of the top 10 after falling six spots in response to their blowout loss at Utah (up to No. 19, from No. 25). And No. 21 Wake Forest was hit hard for their loss to Clemson. The Demon Deacons dropped nine spots after taking their second loss of the season.

No. 1 Georgia remains the unanimous choice for No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, with Alabama right behind the Bulldogs at No. 2. But Ohio State moved up to No. 3 thanks to their blowout win over the Spartans. Ohio State moved ahead of undefeated Cincinnati, with the two schools from Ohio swapping rankings this week.

No. 6 Michigan moved up one spot this week, and No. 12 Iowa moved up two spots. No. 18 Wisconsin also moved up two spots this week as the Badgers moved one step closer to the Big Ten West Division crown. No other Big Ten teams appear in this week’s USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

A look at the full coaches poll after this week’s slate of games.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Georgia 11-0 1,550 (62) –
2 Alabama 10-1 1,450 –
3 Ohio State 10-1 1,428 +1
4 Cincinnati 11-0 1,388 -1
5 Notre Dame 10-1 1,258 +1
6 Michigan 10-1 1,250 +1
7 Oklahoma State 10-1 1,210 +2
8 Ole Miss 9-2 1,049 +2
9 Oklahoma 10-1 1,010 +2
10 Baylor 9-2 977 +3
11 Oregon 9-2 864 -6
12 Iowa 9-2 722 +2
13 Michigan State 9-2 698 -5
14 Texas A&M 8-3 683 +2
15 BYU 9-2 675 –
16 Houston 10-1 572 +1
17 Pittsburgh 9-2 507 +2
18 Wisconsin 8-3 485 +2
19 Utah 8-3 478 +6
20 UTSA 11-0 475 -2
21 Wake Forest 9-2 404 -9
22 San Diego State 10-1 257 +1
23 UL-Lafayette 10-1 236 -1
24 NC State 8-3 196 –
25 Kentucky 8-3 91 +1

Dropped from the rankings:

No. 22 Arkansas

Others receiving votes:

Arkansas 67; Clemson 56; Mississippi State 42; Penn State 22; Appalachian State 20; Purdue 10; Coastal Carolina 9; Air Force 9; Oregon State 2

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Oklahoma climbs two spots to No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

After its 28-21 victory over Iowa State, Oklahoma jumped a pair of spots up to No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

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That’s more like it. Oklahoma is back heading in the right direction in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

The Sooners jumped up a pair of spots to No. 9 nationally after topping Iowa State 28-21.

Oregon’s 38-7 loss at Utah opened the door for some movement after the top two spots. Georgia remained the unanimous No. 1 after its 56-7 win over Charleston Southern and Alabama is still No. 2 following the Crimson Tide’s 42-35 win against Arkansas.

Ohio State blitzed then-No. 8 Michigan State in the first half. Buckeyes freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes and finished with 432 passing yards.

Ohio State led that game over Michigan State 49-0 at halftime and went on to win 56-7. It made an impression on the voters, too.

Ohio State leapfrogged Cincinnati for the No. 3 spot in the poll. The Bearcats were next at No. 4 after beating SMU, 48-14. Notre Dame rounded out the top five in the poll at No. 5 after blanking Georgia Tech, 55-0.

The rest of the top ten went as follows: Michigan at No. 6, Oklahoma State at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 8, Oklahoma at No. 9, and Baylor at No. 10.

Utah saw the biggest leap upwards in this week’s rankings, jumping six spots to No. 19 after the Utes’ blowout win over Oregon. Wake Forest fell nine spots after the Demon Deacons lost to Clemson, 48-27.

Oregon fell six spots to No. 11, while Michigan State dropped five spots to No. 13.

As Oklahoma looks to continue impressing, Oklahoma State being ranked seventh allows for that opportunity.

Here’s a look at the full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Georgia 11-0 1,550 (62) –
2 Alabama 10-1 1,450 –
3 Ohio State 10-1 1,428 +1
4 Cincinnati 11-0 1,388 -1
5 Notre Dame 10-1 1,258 +1
6 Michigan 10-1 1,250 +1
7 Oklahoma State 10-1 1,210 +2
8 Ole Miss 9-2 1,049 +2
9 Oklahoma 10-1 1,010 +2
10 Baylor 9-2 977 +3
11 Oregon 9-2 864 -6
12 Iowa 9-2 722 +2
13 Michigan State 9-2 698 -5
14 Texas A&M 8-3 683 +2
15 BYU 9-2 675 –
16 Houston 10-1 572 +1
17 Pittsburgh 9-2 507 +2
18 Wisconsin 8-3 485 +2
19 Utah 8-3 478 +6
20 UTSA 11-0 475 -2
21 Wake Forest 9-2 404 -9
22 San Diego State 10-1 257 +1
23 UL-Lafayette 10-1 236 -1
24 NC State 8-3 196 –
25 Kentucky 8-3 91 +1

Dropped from the rankings:

No. 22 Arkansas

Others receiving votes:

Arkansas 67; Clemson 56; Mississippi State 42; Penn State 22; Appalachian State 20; Purdue 10; Coastal Carolina 9; Air Force 9; Oregon State 2

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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Before The Snap: 3 Week 12 games that could jumble the College Football Playoff rankings

After the top teams in the latest CFP rankings didn’t change, Before The Snap breaks down how Week 12’s games could be a different story.

Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football series where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.

After the latest College Football Playoff rankings dropped Tuesday, we saw that the order of the top-7 teams hadn’t changed from Week 11 to Week 12. It’s still No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 6 Michigan and No. 7 Michigan State.

But Notre Dame and Oklahoma State each moved up a spot to Nos. 8 and 9, respectively, while Wake Forest and Baylor each moved up two to Nos. 10 and 11, respectively.

So while the College Football Playoff committee didn’t see reasons to play with the top-7 teams this time, next week could be different. So Before The Snap is breaking down a few Week 12 games that could jumble the playoff picture and rankings.

All betting information is per Tipico Sportsbook as of Wednesday.

Georgia Tech at No. 8 Notre Dame

When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Where: Notre Dame Stadium
Channel: NBC
Spread: Notre Dame -17.5
Playoff implications: If Notre Dame wins out against Georgia Tech in Week 12 and Stanford in Week 13, it’ll have a strong playoff resume — even without a conference championship to play for — as an 11-1 team with that lone defeat being against currently No. 5 Cincinnati. As For The Win recently noted, despite Notre Dame’s top-8 ranking, ESPN’s FPI says the team has the fourth-best chance to make the playoff at 46.2 percent. And with a guarantee that either Ohio State or Michigan State — two teams ahead of the Fighting Irish in the latest playoff rankings — another victory for Notre Dame could push it closer to the top-4 teams.

(Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)

No. 7 Michigan State (9-1) at No. 4 Ohio State (9-1)

When: Saturday, Noon ET
Where: Ohio Stadium
Channel: ABC
Spread: Ohio State -19.5
Playoff implications: The top-7 teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings didn’t change Tuesday, so Big Ten still has three teams in there. And with these two facing off in Week 12, it’s all but guaranteed the top-7 teams will change by the time the next rankings roll out. However, because of their respective losses so far, we expect Michigan State to drop a bit farther with a defeat than Ohio State would with its hypothetical second L. But with two undefeated teams in the hunt in No. 1 Georgia and No. 5 Cincinnati, along with several contending one-loss teams, it seems especially unlikely this year that the Big Ten will produce the first two-loss playoff team.

SMU at No. 5 Cincinnati

When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Nippert Stadium
Channel: ESPN
Spread: Cincinnati -11.5
Playoff implications: To have a stronger shot at being the first Group of 5 team invited to the College Football Playoff, Cincinnati needed SMU to stay ranked and be the Bearcats’ second top-25 team on their schedule this year. Unfortunately for both, the Mustangs lost back-to-back games a few weeks ago and have yet to be ranked by the playoff committee. Still, if Cincinnati wants to keep its playoff dreams alive — regardless of the disrespect thrown its way — it needs to put up a convincing win against SMU and grab those style points wherever it can. Behind Notre Dame, the Bearcats currently have the fifth-best playoff chances at 45.1 percent, but with the way the committee has ranked them so far, they absolutely cannot afford a loss.

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College Football Playoff watch: Despite latest rankings, Notre Dame has fourth-best playoff shot

The Fighting Irish weren’t favored to make the playoff earlier this season, but they have one of the best chances in Week 12.

Making the College Football Playoff looked like a long shot for Notre Dame after it lost to Cincinnati back in early October.

But almost seven weeks later, the Fighting Irish’s playoff chances have climbed back in a big way, and they currently have the fourth-best shot at making the playoff, per ESPN’s Football Power Index.

After Notre Dame lost to Cincinnati, it’s playoff chances plummeted to less than 10 percent. Things weren’t looking good, and a lot of people wrote it off as a serious playoff contender. But as it’s continued to win and now boasts a 9-1 record, it’s playoff chances have steadily increased.

Going into Week 10, the Fighting Irish had the eighth-best playoff chances at 15.9 percent. However, after convincing wins against Navy and Virginia in November — and ahead of their Week 12 matchup against Georgia Tech on Saturday— they have a 46.2 percent chance to make the playoff, behind just Georgia (98.9 percent), Alabama (74.7 percent) and Ohio State (53.7 percent), per ESPN’s FPI.

And that’s all despite the playoff committee ranking them at No. 8 as of Tuesday.

Back to being an FBS independent, Notre Dame no longer has a conference championship to play for to boost its playoff resume after briefly joining the ACC last season. But if it wins out against Georgia Tech this weekend and Stanford on November 27, it’ll be looking pretty good at 11-1 with that single defeat coming against a currently ranked No. 5 Cincinnati team.

Couple that with a guaranteed coming loss from at least one of the three Big Ten teams currently ranked ahead of Notre Dame — No. 4 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan and No. 7 Michigan State — and the Fighting Irish could slide into or closer to the top-4 teams.

Here’s a look at the teams with the top-10 best chances to make the College Football Playoff going into Week 12, according to ESPN’s FPI as of Wednesday.

1. Georgia Bulldogs (10-0)
  • Playoff: 98.9 percent
  • National championship game: 73.9 percent
  • Win championship: 46.8 percent
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1)
  • Playoff: 74.7 percent
  • National championship game: 50.8 percent
  • Win championship: 25.5 percent
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0)
  • Playoff: 53.7 percent
  • National championship game: 28.1 percent
  • Win championship: 13.3 percent
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1)
  • Playoff: 46.2 percent
  • National championship game: 11.5 percent
  • Win championship: 3.5 percent

Related: College Football Playoff Rankings: No change in the top seven teams as Georgia stays No. 1

5. Cincinnati Bearcats (10-0)
  • Playoff: 45.1 percent
  • National championship game: 10.1 percent
  • Win championship: 3.0 percent
6. Michigan Wolverines (9-1)
  • Playoff: 33.5 percent
  • National championship game: 12.1 percent
  • Win championship: 4.0 percent
7. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-1)
  • Playoff: 26.4 percent
  • National championship game: 8.0 percent
  • Win championship: 2.3 percent
8. Oklahoma Sooners (9-1)
  • Playoff: 11.8 percent
  • National championship game: 3.6 percent
  • Win championship: 1.2 percent
9. Oregon Ducks (9-1)
  • Playoff: 7.0 percent
  • National championship game: 1.3 percent
  • Win championship: 0.3 percent
10. Michigan State Spartans (9-1)
  • Playoff: 2.0 percent
  • National championship game: 0.4 percent
  • Win championship: 0.1 percent

Among the notable playoff-hopeful teams that used to be closer to the top include: Ole Miss (0.3 percent chance to make the playoff), Wake Forest (0.3 percent), Baylor (0.1 percent) and Auburn (0.0 percent).

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Oklahoma Sooners ranked No. 13 in latest College Football Playoff Rankings

After being handed its first loss, the Oklahoma Sooners fell five spots to No. 13 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings.

It wasn’t a matter of if, but rather how far would Oklahoma fall in the latest College Football Playoff rankings after its 27-14 loss at Baylor this past weekend.

The answer is five spots down the board to No. 13 nationally for the Sooners in the third edition of the 2021 season’s CFP Rankings. Oklahoma is the lowest-ranked one-loss power-five program.

Baylor jumped up two spots to No. 11 after outscoring Oklahoma 20-7 in the second half to hand the Sooners their first loss. Oklahoma State moved up one spot to No. 9 after the Cowboys’ 63-17 blowout win over TCU.

The top four remained the same: Georgia is No. 1, Alabama is No. 2, Oregon is No. 3 and Ohio State is No. 4.

The next three in the rankings saw no change either. Unbeaten group of five member Cincinnati remained just outside the coveted top four slots at No. 5 after a 45-28 win at South Florida.

Michigan remained ranked sixth and Michigan State remained seventh. Notre Dame jumped up one spot to No. 8 and Wake Forest climbed two spots to round out the top ten at No. 10.

Oklahoma’s five-spot tumble matched Texas A&M for the largest drop of any team in this week’s CFP Rankings.

At this point, the Sooners would need to make history in the CFP era in order to make it back into the program’s fifth playoff appearance.

Over the course of the College Football Playoff, the lowest-ranked teams at this juncture to eventually make it in have been Michigan State in 2015 and Oklahoma in 2019 when both teams were ranked ninth in the third CFP rankings.

With the odds now stacked against them, redshirt senior tight end and H-back Jeremiah Hall said immediately after the loss to Baylor that all Oklahoma can worry about now is winning out and seeing where the Sooners eventually land in the final CFP rankings.

“In the grand scheme of things, we all know that it does hurt our national championship chances, but, at the same time, we’ve been in this position before. We’ve made it into those College Football [Playoff] talks before. We’ll see how that goes because we can’t control it. Ultimately, we still have other goals in front of us. We are on a week-to-week basis, but we still want to win these games out, we still want to make it to a Big 12 championship, win that game and see where everything else takes us,” Hall said.

Oklahoma plays Iowa State in Norman at 11 a.m. on Saturday in its second consecutive Big Noon Kickoff on FOX.

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