College Football Playoff 2015: Date, Start Time, TV Schedule for 4th Rankings

Only rivalry weekend and conference championships stand between the culminating College Football Playoff rankings, which will set the Top Four for the second annual postseason tournament.

When: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Tuesday’s release will be the CFP committee’s fourth round of rankings, and as season’s end inches closer, the true colors of the 12-person panel are coming into clear picture.

Like last year, much emphasis has been placed on strength of schedule and record, which is shaping up for a tasty argument between independent Notre Dame, last week’s No. 4, and upward Oklahoma, which can win the Big 12 this weekend.

Undefeated Iowa is expected to crack the Top Four, and its probable opponent in the Big Ten Championship Game, Michigan State, should make a stir following its upset of defending national champion Ohio State last weekend.

Iowa’s season-long ascension in the AP poll has largely run akin to its ranks among the CFP committee, and SportsCenter shared a graphic on the Hawkeyes' continued rise:

The Hawkeyes jumped three spots to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and coaches poll released Sunday. As one of just two remaining unbeatens, along with No. 1 Clemson, Iowa seems all but assured to be included among the committee’s projected four this week.

Where it’ll get interesting is if Iowa jumps Notre Dame in the process, as it did in Sunday’s inconsequential polls.

Notre Dame, blemished by a respectable 24-22 loss at Clemson in Week 5, is believed not to control its own destiny, as JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago speculated on the committee’s ultimate decision:

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The worry for Notre Dame still surrounds Oklahoma. Yes, they lost to Texas, a team Notre Dame throttled by 35. But selection committee chairman Jeff Long has teased the Big 12’s impressive strength of schedule down the stretch as potentially altering the rankings ...

Plus, if Oklahoma is the clear-cut Big 12 champion, that could negate Notre Dame’s common opponent advantage. That common opponent vs. conference champion vs. strong finish question is a precedent that has not been set by the committee in only Year 2 of the playoff.

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Oklahoma remains the big question mark. The Sooners can win the Big 12 with a road triumph over AP No. 9 Oklahoma State this weekend, which would cap three straight wins over ranked teams within their conference. 

FiveThirtyEight, driven by non-biased statistics, likes the Sooners’ chances and gave them a 55 percent shot of reaching the Final Four and a 22 percent chance to win it all, tied with Alabama as the favorite.

The Big 12 was snubbed last year for weak nonconference scheduling and lack of a conference title game when then-No. 3 TCU dropped to fifth in the final week to make room for Ohio State, which won the Big Ten title game 59-0 over Wisconsin. 

The early CFP polls indicated the Big 12 was en route to another similar outcome when one-loss Alabama was included in the initial four ahead of Baylor and TCU, both unbeaten and at the time with the nation's top-ranked offenses. It was a clear message from the committee regarding strength of schedule that will likely be heeded by the Big 12 moving forward. 

Teams that control their own destiny are Clemson, Alabama, Iowa and Michigan State. Florida fans will argue should a one-loss Gators team defeat Florida State and Alabama in consecutive weeks, winning the SEC crown in the process, it would deserve a spot. 

But that all seems a tall task given head coach Jim McElwain likened his team’s energy to “dead fish” following Florida’s 20-14 overtime win over 2-9 Florida Atlantic in Week 12. And, as Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com noted, the committee won’t take kindly to such a narrow win in a proverbial cupcake game:

There’s been no shortage of intrigue along the way, and Tuesday should be no different.