Baylor confused by low ranking

The heat is growing on the committee empowered to select the four teams that will compete for the national championship.

After this week's College Football Playoff ranking, folks at Baylor have every right to be upset, and a little confused. The Bears were at No. 7, their highest rank ever in the first-year poll, but still three spots behind Texas Christian, a team they defeated on Oct. 11.

Head-to-head results have been a big part of the committee's task, so what happened here?

"TCU has two top-25 wins and Baylor has one, and TCU's loss is a top-20 loss," committee chairman Jeff Long said. "When you put all those factors together, we still think at this time TCU has a better resume and was voted that way ahead of Baylor."

Naturally, Baylor players aren't thrilled with the fact they're chasing the Horned Frogs. One outspoken player is defensive end Shawn Oakman, a former star at Penn Wood High School, who says he is "most definitely" bothered by the poll.

"They know at the end of the day who should be up top," he said in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Coach Art Briles, whose team's unimpressive nonconference opponents were Buffalo, Southern Methodist and Northwestern State, said the Bears must take care of matters on the field in their final three games.

"That's what we're working on, that's all we can control," he said.

Briles said he won't rely on "style points" to sway the committee even though the Bears average 50 points and 585 total yards per game. However, chairman Long suggested that Oregon jumped over Florida State into second place this week because its margin of victories was a little more decisive against three Top-25 opponents than the Seminoles' wins over Clemson and Notre Dame.

That, of course, didn't sit well with FSU coach Jimbo Fisher.

"I'm not going to change the integrity of the way I do things," he said in an Associated Press story. "If people on the committee can't see that, then that's it."

Judging from everything being read and said about the game of Week 12, you'd swear that Mississippi State was ranked lower than Alabama instead of being the No. 1 team in the country. And that seems to be OK with Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen, whose team takes on the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.

"Everywhere you look, we're the big underdog in this game," said Mullen, a Drexel Hill native and Ursinus graduate. "We've done that before and we know that role. We'll be OK with that."

The Tide, 81/2-point favorites, have gone 3-1 against No. 1 teams in the last five years while outscoring those opponents by an aggregate 101-36.

After last week's impressive win at Michigan State, Ohio State has returned to the top of the Big Ten world as judged by its No. 8 ranking in the CFP poll, highest among conference teams.

It will take an unlikely sequence of events for the Buckeyes to jump Alabama, Arizona State and Baylor (5-6-7 in the poll) and gain one of the four playoff spots. But they are in the driver's seat for the Big Ten championship game, provided they don't overlook a Minnesota team still in the conference title hunt.

In South Florida, Miami senior Duke Johnson is taking aim on the Hurricanes' record for rushing yards in a career. Look at the great running backs whom he has passed just this season - Willis McGahee, Frank Gore, Clinton Portis and Edgerrin James, among others.

Johnson, who has rushed for 1,213 yards this season, enters the game against Florida State just 252 yards shy of breaking Miami's career rushing record of 3,331 held by Ottis Anderson. Johnson and the 'Canes are trying to break a four-game losing streak against the Seminoles.

Coaches like to moan and groan about turnovers, and rightly so. But some of the most successful teams in 2014 are living dangerously, guilty of mistakes that would embarrass ordinary squads.

Look at Florida State - 19 turnovers (tied for 99th in FBS) and Jameis Winston already with 11 interceptions, one more than he threw all last year. Alabama has lost 11 fumbles and only six FBS teams have lost more.

"We are doing the best we can in every way to try to emphasize the fundamental things we need to do so we have good ball security," 'Bama coach Nick Saban said in an AP article.

Wisconsin's Corey Clement, a former star at Glassboro High, is just about on track to join Melvin Gordon and give the Badgers a pair of 1,000-yard running backs for the third time in the last five seasons.

The 5-foot-11, 217-pound sophomore has rushed for 720 yards in nine games with seven touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Clement rushed for a career high 164 yards in 13 carries last month against Illinois. In his return to his home state two weeks ago, he rushed 14 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns at Rutgers.

Top choice

Mississippi State at Alabama, 3:30 p.m., CBS3:

The ramifications here as they concern the College Football Playoff are enough to make your head spin. On the field, Dak Prescott will try to lead the Bulldogs against one of the nation's top defenses, while Crimson Tide QB Blake Sims will look for holes in a secondary that has given up the SEC's most passing yards.

Pick Six

Ohio State at Minnesota, noon, 6ABC:

The Buckeyes looked like a title team in their rout of Michigan State, but must deal with the cold and an excited Gophers team still in the Big Ten title picture.

Virginia Tech at Duke, noon, ESPNU:

The Blue Devils have their highest ranking (19) in 20 years and need to keep winning to earn a spot in the ACC championship game for the second straight year.

Nebraska at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m., 6ABC:

You won't see two better running backs on the same field than the Cornhuskers' Ameer Abdullah (1,250 yards rushing) and the Badgers' Melvin Gordon (1,501).

Auburn at Georgia, 7:15 p.m., ESPN:

Todd Gurley is back from a four-game suspension for the Bulldogs to make a final push to the SEC East title while the Tigers seek to remain in the SEC West mix.

Florida State at Miami, 8 p.m., 6ABC:

The Seminoles look to impress the CFP committee and hold their current spot among the top four; the Hurricanes and coach Al Golden desperately need a signature win.

Arizona State at Oregon State, 10:45 p.m., ESPN:

The Sun Devils have crept up to No. 6 in the CFP ranking but must be wary of the Beavers' history of upsets on their home field. - Joe Juliano

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