Nov. 18--The chaos will have to wait a week, maybe more.
The top five teams from last week's College Football Playoff rankings remain frozen in time. This is good news for Notre Dame and Iowa, which are still fourth and fifth.
Two more pieces of good news for the Irish: Oklahoma didn't rise as high as some suspected after a solid victory at Baylor. The Sooners moved up from No. 12 to No. 7. So they still would have to make a sizable jump to overtake the Irish.
And Stanford didn't fall that far after losing in the final minute to Oregon. The Cardinal dropped only from No. 7 to No. 11, meaning that if the Irish take out Stanford one week from Saturday, that still will count as a very solid victory.
Playoff committee chair Jeff Long said the Irish "remain strong at 4, but I'll certainly tell you that the Big 12 teams, with their schedules back-loaded, we see some of them emerging."
Since losing 24-17 to Texas, the Sooners have beaten five Big 12 opponents by a combined 276-84 and still have two resume-enhancing dates: versus TCU on Saturday and at Oklahoma State, which rose to No. 6 in the rankings, on Nov. 28.
At a potential 11-1, the Sooners would have beaten five ranked teams -- three on the road.
Coach Bob Stoops stumped for his team Tuesday on ESPN, saying it "certainly" should be in the playoff if the Sooners win out.
He didn't mention his team and Notre Dame have a common opponent -- Texas. Would the committee give the nod to Notre Dame over Oklahoma by virtue of the Irish's 38-3 thrashing of Texas in the season-opener?
Here's what we do know: The top three in the ranking are still Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State. They all, as everyone likes to say, control their own destiny.
The Irish likely do, too, and the Hawkeyes almost definitely do. Iowa is 10-0 and on the verge of locking up a berth in the Big Ten title game, where it would face Ohio State, Michigan State or Michigan.
The Spartans rose from No. 13 to No. 9, as expected. If they beat the Buckeyes on the road Saturday, they will join Notre Dame and Oklahoma in the conversation among top one-loss teams. Alabama remains the top one-loss team.
Also in the rankings from the Big Ten: Michigan (12), Northwestern (20) and Wisconsin (25). The Wildcats' penalty for beating hapless Purdue at home by a touchdown was a two-spot drop.
