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Juggled CFP rankings drive conversation

Perhaps the best reaction about the latest College Football Playoff rankings came from a friend Tuesday when asked why there was a major shuffling of teams this week:

“Because,” he said, “It’s a television show. They need something to talk about.”

I’m beginning to wonder how true a statement that is.

It made sense that Ohio State and Sportsman of the Year Ezekiel Elliott dropped out of the top four upon losing to Michigan State and that Oklahoma rose from its No. 7 position of last week, but it made zero sense that the Sooners jumped all the way to No. 3, catapulting the likes of Iowa and Notre Dame in the process.

But, yes, it made for some good television.

The playoff committee released a top four of Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa.

Michigan State was slotted fifth and Notre Dame dropped out of a potential semifinal spot to sixth.

“I can tell you there were a number of re-votes between the 3-6 spots,” committee chairman Jeff Long said. “We really dug into those teams and voted a number of times. It was a very tightly discussed area.”

Discuss this: Oklahoma had to hold off a Texas Christian team at home by a 30-29 final Saturday, a TCU side playing with a backup quarterback and yet was a succcessful two-point conversion away from winning in Norman.

What the move by Oklahoma suggests is that if the Sooners win at Oklahoma State this week and Notre Dame beats Stanford in Palo Alto, the common opponent theory might not play as big a part in the process as most have believed.

Notre Dame routed Texas to open the season, while Okahoma’s only loss is to the Longhorns.

Clemson and Alabama are in the playoff if each win out, and you figure whoever survives the Big Ten Championship game is secured a spot. That would leave, at least today, Oklahoma and Notre Dame to decide the final one.

“Oklahoma’s entire body of work, with another win against a Top 25 team (in TCU) this week and what it has done over the last few weeks when added in vaulted them into that No. 3 spot,” Long said. “Notre Dame’s (19-16) win against Boston College this week and not really playing well the last few weeks really didn’t add much to the resume.”

He’s sending a message, and it sure doesn’t sound like a positive one for the team from South Bend.

— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow him: @edgraney

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