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After many in Top 10 stumbled, Baylor should land on CFP's doorstep
Baylor's 10-point loss against Oklahoma while starting a second-string freshman quarterback who gutted out a badly bruised back will likely ultimately keep it out of the College Football Playoff.
Deep down, Bears fans know this. But they do have reason to question the logic after last Saturday's quesy performances from multiple teams ranked in the top 10. The No. 10 Bears (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) inarguably vaulted themselves back into the playoff conversation with an impressive road win, getting the help of third-string quarterback Chris Johnson, to sink No. 6 Oklahoma State.
After viewing the shaky results of Saturday's games, Baylor has to wonder how the CFP committee will treat it when its new batch of rankings are revealed Tuesday evening.
No. 3 Ohio State will vacate the top four, but how far will the committee drop the defending national champs? The Buckeyes haven't played a tough schedule -- the main criticism levied against the Bears -- and lost when it finally played a top-10 team in No. 9 Michigan State.
Speaking of Michigan State, Bears fans concede the one-loss Spartans have a nice non-conference win over Oregon, but they have a hard time getting past Sparty's loss at 5-6 Nebraska combined with that absolute miracle-of-a-win at Michigan.
No. 5 Iowa, with a 20-point win over woeful Purdue, is likely to replace its Big Ten rival Ohio State at No. 3. No. 4 Notre Dame did nothing to solidify its standing as playoff-worthy with a five-turnover squeaker over Boston College.
No. 6 Oklahoma State is likely to drop out of the top 10. No. 7 Oklahoma needed a desperation stop of a TCU two-point conversion to hold onto a 30-29 win at home against a Horned Frogs team that played without offensive stars Trevone Boykin and Josh Doctson.
Think OU, manhandled by 4-6 Texas in October, should stay ranked ahead of Baylor based on head-to-head? Please don't make Baylor fans break out 61-58 yet again.
No. 8 and offensively challenged Florida needed overtime at home to beat Florida Atlantic -- Florida Atlantic!
Considering these results, if the committee is being honest with itself, how can it put the Bears anywhere but at the doorstep of the top four? From there, let the chips fall as they may.
