Welcome to mid-November college football, where anything can happen and rankings and divisional standings can be shaken up at a moment’s notice. Right now, I sit in Los Angeles cheering on my school, USC, as a renewed sense of vigor and confidence has swept through campus after both Utah and UCLA lost, allowing for the Trojans to control their own destiny in the Pac-12 South. The rest of the country is also waiting out the rest of the season for any changes to come into play and potentially alter the outlook of what the championship games will entail.

Week 12 Rankings

1. Clemson Tigers: DeShaun Watson’s 461 yards and four touchdowns paved these trend-setting Tigers towards another key win as they trumped Syracuse 37-27 on Saturday. Their 13th straight win has these Tigers on the move and towards an ACC championship. Artavis Scott and Charone Peake had key receiving games to help propel the Tigers towards a great victory that will only help them going forward. A game against Wake Forest should be easy, but South Carolina the week after will prove to be more difficult.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes: Ohio State continues to ravage the Big 10, and did so with a easy 28-3 win over Illinois. Ezekiel Elliot’s 184 yards and two touchdowns, as well as J.T. Barrett’s over 200 all-purpose yards helped fuel this Buckeyes attack that proved to just be too good for the Fighting Illini. Illinois claimed to be ready for this one, but whatever preparation they had done was simply not good enough for what Ohio State had to offer. It will be just another checkbox that the Buckeyes can whip out their ballpoint pen and mark on the road towards their second consecutive College Football Playoff.

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3. Alabama Crimson Tide: I hate to say it, but the Tide keep finding their way up to the top. This week against a fairly competent team in Mississippi State was no exception, as a 31-6 trouncing of the Bulldogs showed the SEC just who is boss. Alabama’s nine sacks, including three from Jonathan Allen, and huge plays on offense were way too much for the Bulldogs, and the Tide can now rest easy against Charleston South before the state’s gridlock holiday of the Iron Bowl in two weeks against Auburn.

4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Josh Adams’ 98 yard touchdown led the Irish towards a critical 28-7 win over Wake Forest and DeShone Kizer’s 111 yards passing led the way for a very good Notre Dame team towards victory. Kizer tried to be clear that the Irish’s mission is not over yet, and he is absolutely right. Notre Dame is headed as of now towards the postseason, and former backup quarterback turned injury-replacement starter Kizer is excited.

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5. Iowa Hawkeyes: Barely able to get past Minnesota, the questions surrounding the Hawkeyes is definitely evident. But, they are killing the Big 10 West and should easily clinch a conference championship bid. C.J. Beathard’s 213 yards and LeShun Daniels’ 195 yards and three touchdowns were enough for the Hawkeyes to once again taste victory. While Minnesota is just 1-5, the Hawkeyes did exactly enough to trump them 40-35.

6. Oklahoma State Cowboys: Similarly to Iowa, the Oklahoma State Cowboys barely got through their opponent in the Iowa State Cyclones, winning by a score of 35-31 courtesy of J.W. Walsh’s pass to Jeff Carr with under 4 minutes to play that sealed the deal. Oklahoma State’s drives in the second half ate up a lot of the clock and allowed for a nice, swift victory that they needed. The Cowboys are improving, and will continue to be a dangerous force in December.

7. Oklahoma Sooners: The Cowboys’ state rival is not that bad either. The Sooners pulled off a huge win over Baylor 44-34 in Waco ended the Bears’ 20 game home winning streak and potentially their playoff hopes. I said in prior weeks that the legitimacy of this Baylor team in the absence of the cerebral team leader of quarterback Seth Russell would be interesting, and this proved to finally be true. However, a date in two weeks in Stillwater will probably derive them of this opportunity unfortunately, at least in my opinion. We will have to find out, however, who the eventual champion of the Sooner State (foreshadowing?) will be.

8. Florida Gators: South Carolina is a historically and presently good football team, and despite Steve Spurrier’s sudden retirement, still maintains strong football IQ and overall qualities. The fact that the Gators were able to go into Columbia and emerge victorious proves the myriad strengths of what they have to offer in Gainesville. Jordan Cronkite’s touchdown run helped the Gators emerge with a 24-14 win that makes an interesting case for the Gators’ playoff hopes. A game against Florida Atlantic should be a nice tune-up before the huge game against Florida State the week after.

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9. TCU Horned Frogs: A 23-17 win against winless Kansas is really nice, but the Horned Frogs could be seriously struggling after this week. Quarterback and fearless leader Trevone Boykin, who was my Heisman pick in our Sconnie Sports Talk pre-season NCAAF picks, injured his right ankle and the team’s hopes and dreams in the first half of this one. With Oklahoma and Baylor, two ranked teams, still on the docket it is becoming more obvious that the Horned Frogs’ dreams are fading away.

10. Michigan State Spartans: I do not know what is up with quarterbacks getting injured, but Russell, Boykin, and now MSU quarterback Connor Cook are all done. A shoulder injury caused Cook to be off the field for the second half of the Spartans’ 24-7 win over the Maryland Terrapins, but Cook claims to be fine. Apparently, he feels as if he should lose the battle to win the war. That is, he would sit out the second half of Saturday’s bout to prepare himself for the gauntlet of a task that is next weekend’s game against Ohio State in Columbus. That game will be key, as the Spartans will need to play at an 100 percent level to be able to stand a chance at the Buckeyes.

11. Baylor Bears

12. Michigan Wolverines

13. Houston Cougars

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14. Florida State Seminoles

15. North Carolina Tar Heels

16. LSU Tigers

17. Stanford Cardinal

18. Utah Utes

19. Wisconsin Badgers

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20. USC Trojans

21. Northwestern Wildcats

22. Navy Midshipmen

23. Oregon Ducks

24. Washington State Cougars

25. Ole Miss Rebels


Week 12 – Key Matchups

USC vs. Oregon

Utah vs. UCLA

LSU vs. Ole Miss

Michigan State vs. Ohio State

Northwestern vs. Wisconsin

Baylor vs. Oklahoma State

TCU vs. Oklahoma


Sources

ESPN

All images are courtesy of Getty Images.