There hasn't been a more anticipated set of College Football Playoff rankings yet for Sooner Nation than the ones coming on Tuesday evening, with the Oklahoma Sooners expected to get a major boost after upsetting Alabama.
The Sooners went into Tuscaloosa and took down then-No. 4 Alabama 23-21 to notch that extra statement win the CFP committee apparently needed to be convinced OU deserved a playoff spot with two losses. Whether the committee agress or not, it's clear now the Sooners are the best two-loss squad in the country, but high should they climb after upsetting the Crimson Tide?
The Aggies needed a historic comeback to survive a struggling South Carolina 31-30 at home, but in the end, Texas A&M still keeps winning in the toughest conference in America. The Aggies play Samford on Saturday, but after that, it's Texas, then likely Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. If the Aggies keep doing what they're doing, there's no denying who should be on top come Selection Sunday. The committee won't agree, though.
Similar to last week, Ohio State and Indiana are a toss-up out of the Big Ten, but the difference is the Buckeyes hammering Penn State, while the Hoosiers needed overtime the next week. However, the committee will still have Ohio State at No. 1 on Tuesday with Indiana next.
With just Purdue left on the schedule, Indiana won't get a chance to prove it deserves to move up until the Big Ten Championship Game, unless Ohio State slips up against Michigan in two weeks. There's no arguing the Hoosiers have been dominant, but any playoff contender should be against those opponents.
Surprise, Kirby Smart's Bulldogs are one of the best teams in the country and playing their best football down the stretch. Georgia absolutely destroyed Texas 35-10 on Saturday, and also has wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss. The only thing stopping the Bulldogs from being up at No. 1 is a loss to Alabama.
Ole Miss' lone loss was a close one to Georgia, which is right above the Rebels. It's easy for the Rebels the rest of the way, but they already beat Oklahoma in Norman and keep doing what they need to, other than maybe keep their head coach around.
The Red Raiders' schedule could be an argument against them, but they've still dominated teams like they should, other than a loss to Arizona State when their starting quarterback was sidelined with an injury. Texas Tech also impressed with a 29-7 win over then-No. 7 BYU two weeks ago.
Texas Tech is by far the best team in the Big 12, which is far more deserving of a playoff spot than the ACC or any Group of Five conference.
The Sooners assured on Saturday they're the best two-loss team in the country, and even more deserving of this slot than some teams with just one loss (looking at you, Oregon and BYU). Now, OU just has to avoid upsets against Missouri and LSU at home, while some chaos hopefully ensues above the Sooners to better their seed.
Alabama was considered the fourth-best team in the country last week, and although its resume might show it deserves a higher spot than this, the Crimson Tide definitely don't shouldn't be ahead of the Sooners after a head-to-head loss. With that, Oregon and BYU or any other two-loss team have not accomplished as much as Alabama has this season.
The Ducks keep winning, but in their only real opportunity to impress, they were thumped by Indiana at home. Oregon belongs in the CFP, but even with a win over USC this weekend, the Ducks still don't belong among Alabama and Oklahoma, even with two losses.
There are fan bases of two-loss teams (Notre Dame) who will scream their team belongs ahead of the Cougars, but considering none of them have endured tough schedules or notched impressive wins, BYU has lost less so belongs above. The Cougars' only loss was to Texas Tech on the road, but they've been dominant and also beat a Utah team that has emerged as a playoff bubble team.
The ACC is going to get in regardless, so might as well put the best team from the conference up here. The Hurricanes have been inconsistent with two ugly losses, but have also beaten South Florida and Notre Dame, which is why the Fighting Irish are below. There has to be a reward for head-to-head wins, or else there's no reason for teams to play in big-time games that fans enjoy.
This is a lot different than where the committee will actually have Notre Dame, but without a famous logo and shiny gold helmets, there's no way the Fighting Irish would be getting the respect they have been with their resume. The committee uses the eye test as a reason, but any solid football team should look good against the teams Notre Dame has played. And when the Fighting Irish actually played two good teams in Miami and Texas A&M, they lost.