Oklahoma moved into third and Iowa was fourth in the new College Football Playoff rankings as Notre Dame slipped to No. 6.
Clemson and Alabama remained the top two teams in the third-to-last committee rankings.
The Sooners (10-1) seem to be in solid shape with only one game left in their season. Oklahoma will play at Oklahoma State on Saturday with a chance to win the Big 12. The Cowboys dropped to 11th after losing its first game of the season. The committee does not seem to be hung up on the Sooners’ October loss to Texas.
Long said the committee took into account that Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield sat out the second half against TCU. When Mayfield was playing, Oklahoma was in control of the game, Long said.
Notre Dame (10-1) also plays its last game of the season Saturday, a possible resume-builder against Stanford, which is ninth in the rankings.
Unbeaten Iowa (11-0) and No. 5 Michigan State (10-1) can setup a possible playoff play-in game in the Big Ten championship if both win this weekend.