B1G’s Playoff Hopes in Jeopardy After Tough Week

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The college football playoff race could get a major shakeup this weekend as multiple top-10 teams face off against each other.

The Big Ten’s playoff hopes now rest in No. 8 Wisonconsin. It’s best two contenders, No. 13 Ohio State and No. 14 Penn State, were all but eliminated from contention for the College Football Playoff this weekend after suffering losses to then-unranked Iowa and No. 12 Michigan State, respectively, the second loss for each team so far this season.

Many have called Wisconsin’s 9-0 record into question, citing a low strength-of-record (SOR) thanks to its generally mediocre opponents in the B1G West. The Badgers will most likely have to win out in the regular season and come out on top in the B1G Conference Championship Game later this year to have any shot at the playoff, barring losses from other top teams.

The top four teams in the playoff rankings remained the same as they were last Tuesday, as No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Clemson were all victorious in their games over the weekend.

Notable movers include Michigan State, who now sits at No. 12, up twelve spots from last week thanks to its big win at home over then-No. 7-ranked Penn State. No.  7 Miami and No. 9 Washington both moved up three spots and No. 11 USC is up 6 positions after a win over Arizona State. Another big winner was Iowa, moving up into the top-25 with a No. 20 ranking coming off of its win over the Buckeyes. They will face in-state rival No. 21 Iowa State this weekend.

There are three matchups this weekend that will feature two top-10 teams: Georgia will face SEC rival No. 10 Auburn, Notre Dame will square off against Miami and No. 6 TCU will play No. 5 Oklahoma in Norman. This week’s contests hold the best chance yet for chaos to engulf the college football world, as losses by two or more top-five teams would make the playoff race wide open.