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College Football Playoff, Bowl Game Updates

What’s the latest speculation in the College Football Playoff chase and for the bowl picture on Friday, November 27th?

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– And now this gets really fun after TCU slugged its way past Baylor in the double overtime win.

At around the same time on Saturday night, Stanford will be hosting Notre Dame when Oklahoma and Oklahoma State square off for what now has turned into a true Big 12 championship game. The Sooner-Cowboy winner will be the league’s One True Champion, but will that mean a playoff spot?

If Stanford beats the Fighting Irish, then yeah – no matter what happens in the other conference races, an 11-1 Big 12 champion should get in as long as Notre Dame is out.

But what happens if Notre Dame wins? The Irish will have just the one loss to No. 1 Clemson on the road and it’ll have beaten Texas, who, of course, beat Oklahoma.

But what happens if the Big 12 is left out again?

What happens if Stanford destroys the Fighting Irish? Is the Pac-12 still in play?

For all intents and purposes, the College Football Playoff really starts on Saturday night.

– Iowa’s win over Nebraska should mean – at very worst – nothing less than the Rose Bowl. At 12-0, even a blowout loss in the Big Ten championship game would still get the Hawkeyes into a New Year’s Six bowl game. Would 11-1 Ohio State get the Rose Bowl over Iowa if 12-1 Michigan State goes to the playoff? It would have to take something special, but it’s doubtful.

For the Big Ten, if it’s Ohio State or Michigan State playing Iowa – not Michigan, because of its two losses – then next week’s championship game is almost certainly for a spot in the playoff.

– Nebraska at 5-7 isn’t totally out of a bowl slot – if there aren’t 80 available teams, the NCAA might make some sort of exception – but it’s going to be a problem. Now, the Big Ten needs Illinois to beat Northwestern, Indiana to beat Purdue and Minnesota to beat Wisconsin. If the Illini, Hoosiers and Gophers lose, there’s a shot the Big Ten will have four open bowl slots.

– Open Big Ten bowl slots help out the Pac-12. With Washington beating Washington State, the Pac-12 will likely have two extra bowl teams available.

– It’s not as bad as the Big Ten’s situation, but Texas losing to Texas Tech takes away another team for the Big 12. There should be at least one open Big 12 bowl slot, maybe two if Kansas State doesn’t win out.

– Navy is effectively out of the Group of Five automatic New Year’s Six slot, and Houston is in the driver’s seat. The Cougars’ 52-31 win over the No. 15 Midshipmen mean they’ll host the American Athletic championship game. If Temple beats UConn, it’ll get the East spot. A Temple loss means South Florida is in after thumping UCF on Thanksgiving night. If the Owls make it, the AAC title game winner will likely get the New Year’s Six slot because …

– Toledo losing to Western Michigan is a disaster for the MAC. The Rockets would’ve won the MAC West and would’ve had a good shot at slipping into the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six Bowl, but now it’ll be Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green for the conference title.

– WKU whacking Marshall means the Hilltoppers will play the Southern Miss- Louisiana Tech winner for the Conference USA title.

– It’ll fly under the radar, but Central Michigan’s win over Eastern Michigan and Akron’s win over Kent State strengthens the MAC’s bowl pull. Both the Chippewas and Zips are a more attractive 7-5.

– Georgia State’s win over Troy keeps the Panthers alive for a bowl slot. The Sun Belt might have a hard time filling its four openings – five including the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl – and now they need to beat Georgia Southern to get to six wins.

– San Jose State’s loss to Boise State takes away a possible bowl team for the Mountain West – the Spartans finish at 5-7.