Nov 17, 2025
3 min read
There is a nightmare scenario where the Big Ten could only send two teams to the College Football Playoff.
For a while on Saturday afternoon, it looked like many of the College Football Playoff contenders were going to be out, and the race may have gotten a little far.
The fourth quarter of the games that started at 15:30.ET, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 17 USC all lost.For OU and USC, a third loss would have meant virtual elimination.
Instead, all three came back to win, beating Alabama in quick succession, with the Yellow Jackets at Boston College and the Trojans against Iowa.
A few weeks ago, we looked at the possibility of a 9-3 team making the 12-team CFP field.What we learned about the playoffs in Week 12 is that we now see probably more than enough 10-win teams to fill the bracket.And Texas won't be one of them.
Ireland was closed in Miami shut out?
Marcus Freeman has already lost too many games with a team favored in the ninth (hello, from Northern Illinois) in Beat It A, so he doesn't want to hear another place that doesn't care, so he doesn't want to hear another play from the ninth, so he doesn't want to hear another place that doesn't care.
Jeremiah Love and the Irish (8-2) had no trouble against the Panthers and only have games against Syracuse at home next week and at Stanford on Thanksgiving.The Orange and Cardinal are 6-14 overall, with three ACC wins.
All you need is love ☘️
Over there.#Googish☘️ |@Jeremishlove pic.twitter.com/c2cstyplo2n
— Nore Dame Soccer (@ndfootball) November 15, 2025
For a Notre Dame team that has won eight straight games by an average of 26 points after starting 0-2 against Miami and Texas A&M, going 10-2 shouldn't be a tall order.And since the Irish are already in the ACP, they should at least stay there, right?
Austin Mock's prediction has Notre Dame a 96 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Well, that's about it.
There's the Miami question.You can miss the All-Star Hurricanes (8-2) going home.Miami fans, of course.
A combination of two losses to Louisville (above) and SMU that falls behind Notre Dame will start the lighthouse path in favor of the Irish in the first ranking of the first commission.It moved up three spots the following week, but even if it buried NC State, 41-7 might not lead to much improvement this week, because most teams didn't make or play them straight.
Oklahoma's win against Alabama was especially problematic for Miami's high hopes.
Back to Notre Dame.The way it works with the selection committee is that the head-to-head results are somewhat similar.Teams are judged by a committee in a group format and if the teams are close, the outcome of the game between the two teams is generally considered to be decisive.
Until then, the Miami committee is not over, and there is nothing more joyful than a tie and a bow.When will this change change?Miami didn't have a near term (road trips to Virginia Tech and Pitt) to work with teams.
By the end of the season, Miami and Notre Dame will have played four common opponents: NC State, Syracuse, Pitt and Stanford.The committee will consider common opponents, but if each team wins, it likely won't be enough to be the deciding factor.Also, Notre Dame beat NC State 36-7.
Miami needs more performances like Saturday against NC State to have a chance.But maybe the selection committee has been chosen on the Miami-no unknown things, can not be brought back.
The forecasters think so.The mock model has Miami with an 11 percent chance of making the CFP, but the model also predicts another regular season loss for the Hurricanes.If they go 10-2, that chance jumps to 25 percent.
Փոթորիկների հետ հավասարեցնելը նրանց դիրքն է մրցաշարային աղյուսակում:They still sit behind four teams with a chance to reach the conference title game and have one of the five division championships in the field.
The ACC can dream of getting two bids, but right now it looks very much like a conference worth just one.The best-case scenario for the ACC is Miami.The Hurricanes are the most talented team in the league and the team with the best chance to win a game or two against CFP-caliber opponents.
Instead, Miami is on the verge of an at-large bid and would be ranked in the committee's final top 12 and technically in position to make the CFP, but a lower-ranked ACC team would win the league championship and participate.
B1G West Coast
No.USC overcame a 21-7 deficit 21-7 NO.Iowa 21 Iowa in the second half to set up an easy sweep next week at No. 8 Oregon (9-1).
The Trojans (8-2) and Ducks play as Big Ten rivals for the first time in decades after meeting in the Pac-12.Oregon enters the game with an 82 percent chance to make the playoffs.USC is 20 percent.
In weeks, it could have done the Big Ten a favor by setting up one other conference that would pull one of its No.
Maybe that's true, but Oklahoma's upset of Alabama breathed the Fired into the fast lane and set the pace for a five-team CFP game.And we'll just talk about Miami and let the Dames both go 10-2.
If USC defeats Oregon State and both teams finish 10-2, will only two teams, No. 1 Ohio State (10-0) and No. 2 Ohio State (10-0), compete instead of the four teams from the Big Ten?2 Indiana (11-0)?
Let's play.
There's no way you could have five 10-win SEC teams, four 10-win Big Ten teams and Notre Dame on the field.Texas A&M (12-0), Georgia (11-1), Alabama (10-2), Ole Miss (11-1) and Oklahoma (10-2) are among the committee's top 12 before championship weekend.and can be
If USC beats Oregon, it puts the Ducks in the danger zone, and the committee has already edged them out a bit, leaving them nine over the top seed and just one spot ahead of second place.
It will be interesting to see how much Oklahoma rises in Tuesday's ranking among long-term lands in Bama Falls and where the ducks sit with everyone else.
Alabama's opening at Florida State's Opening State is easy for the Committee to eliminate because it's going through one of the nation's toughest schedules ever.Now that Alabama has lost again, it may be time to repeat that performance.
However, that could be a lot stronger as the cast resumes.Now bring in notre dame, which beat USC, and Mami, which beat dame.
Suddenly, the Big Ten now has to be wary of what happens in the Big 12, where No. 6 Texas Tech solidifies its overall position and No. 12 BYU (9-1) is its most likely title opponent.The committee also seems excited about No. 13 Utah (8-2), which puts pressure on opponents like Texas Tech or BYU.
Is the old saying about birds better than two in the bush?For 10 adults
Five more things you need to know now about PCP
• Georgia Tech nearly pulled off the best upset move in the ACC.The Yellow Jackets trailed Boston College, which has yet to beat a Football Bowl Subdivision team, by 11 points late in the third quarter before taking a 36-34 lead on a field goal in the final seconds.Tech can now clinch a spot in the ACC title game by beating Pitt next week.If Haynes King and company can pull off the upset against Georgia that they pulled off last year, we can start talking about big-time offers.Remember, last year when SMU lost the ACC title game and still made it to the CFP as the top seed, they entered the game 11-1 and ranked No. 8. Georgia Tech is the only ACC team in position to do something like that.
All the ice in the veins @Birrskiii 🧊#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/BKqcpiF0Ix
— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiateChfb) November 16, 2025
• Texas is hard to pull off.The Longhorns were rolled by Georgia in the second half and are now 7-3, with Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M remaining on the schedule.The Aggies (10-0) are undefeated after the biggest comeback in school history against South Carolina, but they still need to beat their opponents to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship.If Texas A&M loses, it could be a 9-3 playoff team.The thing is, Texas rarely looks like a top 12 team in the country.Even if the Horns win, there should be plenty of better options.
• Speaking of not looking like a playoff team but still in the running, Michigan used a field goal on the final play of the game to beat Northwestern at Wrigley Field.The Wolverines (8-2) will travel to Maryland next week after losing six in a row before hosting No. 1 Ohio State.Michigan's loss to Oklahoma could be a talking point.Imagine the Buckeyes getting beat two years in a row and not making the CFP in the season?
James Madison has a 37 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to Mock's projections.JMU is a heavy favorite to run the table and win the Sun Belt.Meanwhile, the U.S.Champion is not clear cut.USF and Memphis go down again on Saturday.North Texas has the best chance of reaching PCP.34th-ranked Carolina opens the U.S. by beating Memphis on Saturday.It becomes another factor in the competition.
• Yes, if the navy wins the Americans, the Selection Committee will have to consider MIDSPNSEN based on only 11 games.The Navy game is the Saturday after the Sunday pick-up.
