With two weeks to go in the regular-season, Oklahoma State is the Big 12′s top College Football Playoff contender.
It’s still going to be a struggle, even with a regular-season finale against No. 13 Oklahoma and an inside track to the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium.
At 9-1, the Cowboys were ranked ninth in the CFP rankings released Tuesday. The lowest that any team has been this late in the season to make the four-team playoff was Michigan State in 2015.
The final rankings will be released on Dec. 5 from Grapevine.
The top seven teams remained the same from last week. Dominant Georgia was No. 1 followed by Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Michigan and Michigan State.
Here are some takeaways:
— Baylor (8-2) rose two notches to No. 11 after a 27-14 victory over Oklahoma in Waco. As impressive as the win was, the Bears face the same problem as Oklahoma State — getting any enough attention-getting wins to move up in the rankings. Baylor closes with Kansas State and Texas Tech, both bowl-eligible teams, and is in the mix for the Big 12 title game. No two-loss team has ever made the playoff.
— Cincinnati (10-0) will take a No. 5 ranking into its home showdown with SMU (8-2) on Saturday. Speaking on ESPN’s unveiling show, CFP selection chairman Gary Barta said the committee continues to talk about Cincinnati’s strength of schedule – or lack thereof – each week. The game with SMU and a season-closer with No. 24 Houston should help the Bearcats case.
— Oklahoma fell five notches to No. 13 after its loss in Waco, dimming the Sooners chances of reaching the CFP for the fifth time. OU is the only Big 12 team to have reached the playoff.
— At 16th, Texas A&M’s hopes of a New Year’s Six Bowl are pretty much done after the Aggies’ 29-19 loss at Ole Miss.
