NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 12 Standings for College's Top 25 Teams
While only four teams officially make the College Football Playoff, every game at this point of the season could be considered an eliminator.
Week 12 had six games between teams ranked in the Top 20 of the latest committee rankings, and each of them had a major effect on the national landscape. Meanwhile, the biggest result was not even one of these, as No. 3 Auburn was upset at home by unranked Texas A&M.
Add this to disappointing losses by Michigan State, Kansas State, Notre Dame and others, and it is clear the playoffs are wide open. The question is which teams can make a move in the coming weeks.
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Here is a look at how each team fared based on the Week 11 standings and a complete breakdown of the weekend.
| 1 | Mississippi State | Beat UT Martin, 45-16 |
| 2 | Florida State | Beat Virginia, 34-20 |
| 3 | Auburn | Lost to Texas A&M, 41-38 |
| 4 | Oregon | Beat No. 17 Utah, 51-27 |
| 5 | Alabama | Beat No. 16 LSU, 20-13 in OT |
| 6 | TCU | Beat No. 7 Kansas State, 41-20 |
| 7 | Kansas State | Lost to No. 6 TCU, 41-20 |
| 8 | Michigan State | Lost to No. 14 Ohio State, 49-37 |
| 9 | Arizona State | Beat No. 10 Notre Dame, 55-31 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | Lost to No. 9 Arizona State, 55-31 |
| 11 | Ole Miss | Beat Presbyterian, 48-0 |
| 12 | Baylor | Beat No. 15 Oklahoma, 48-14 |
| 13 | Nebraska | Bye Week |
| 14 | Ohio State | Beat No. 8 Michigan State, 49-37 |
| 15 | Oklahoma | Lost to No. 12 Baylor, 48-14 |
| 16 | LSU | Lost to No. 5 Alabama, 20-13 in OT |
| 17 | Utah | Lost to No. 4 Oregon, 51-27 |
| 18 | UCLA | Beat Washington, 44-30 |
| 19 | Arizona | Beat Colorado, 38-20 |
| 20 | Georgia | Beat Kentucky, 63-31 |
| 21 | Clemson | Beat Wake Forest, 34-20 |
| 22 | Duke | Beat Syracuse, 27-10 |
| 23 | West Virginia | Lost to Texas, 33-16 |
| 24 | Georgia Tech | Beat North Carolina State, 56-23 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | Beat Purdue, 34-16 |
Breakdown
A number of battles between highly ranked opponents made Saturday one of the best days of college football all season.
One of the better games of the night came between two teams familiar with the spotlight: Alabama and LSU. Unsurprisingly with these two programs, it was a low-scoring battle with defense making big plays all day.
The Crimson Tide seemed done after a fumble deep inside their own territory in the closing minutes with the score tied 10-10. However, the defense held the Tigers to a field goal and Blake Sims led a drive for a game-tying field goal to send it into overtime, where Alabama came through with a 20-13 win.
Paul Finebaum of ESPN made a bold statement after the victory:
This was still not the biggest result in the SEC West, as Auburn could not come through with a win at home against Texas A&M. The Aggies got out to an 18-point lead at halftime, which the Tigers almost erased before putting themselves in great position for a go-ahead score.
However, SportsCenter described the Tigers' problems:
Fumbles on a handoff and then on the snap in the final minutes ruined any chance for Auburn to come back in the game and likely knocked the squad out of the playoff discussion.
Things went much better for a pair of Big 12 teams that did not leave anything to luck. Both TCU and Baylor had huge wins, beating Kansas State and Oklahoma, respectively.
These teams have two of the most explosive offenses in the nation, while their defenses also showed up big against quality opponents. The argument now continues whether a head-to-head win for Baylor is better than TCU's better resume.
Interestingly, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated believes both teams could have benefited from the day's action:
It is an unlikely scenario, but these squads are clearly playing as well as anyone in the country.
In the Big Ten, it was widely assumed that Michigan State would be the only team capable of competing for a playoff, but Ohio State reminded everyone how good they can be with a 49-37 win in East Lansing.
Quarterback J.T. Barrett is no longer simply "filling in" for an injured Braxton Miller, as he is showing he is one of the best in the nation at his position. He threw three touchdown passes, rushed for two more and earned a Total QBR of 95.8 out of 100.
"This is one for the ages—that's how much respect we have for our opponent," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said to reporters after the game. "We played a top-10 team and really played our best—on the road."
It will take a lot of help to get the Buckeyes into the playoffs, but Michigan State is likely out of the picture after its loss.
The Pac-12 also earned a quality win, as Arizona State proved it is a real contender with a win over Notre Dame. Everett Golson committed five turnovers in the loss, including two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Dan Wolken of USA Today explained the impact of this battle:
In addition to helping the Sun Devils' resume, it also helped bring more legitimacy to the Pac-12 with a great nonconference win.
This is good news for Oregon as well, which improved its record to 9-1 with a road win over Utah. Marcus Mariota was great once again with 114 rushing yards and a touchdown to go with a three-touchdown performance through the air. He continues to boost his Heisman bid while also doing everything he can to help the Ducks win.
Oregon will likely earn a spot in the College Football Playoffs if it wins out, but fans need to be ready for what could be an exciting battle in the Pac-12 Championship Game against Arizona State.
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