College Football Playoff: What chaos does UCF need to reach the Top 4?

Step 4: Three-loss Texas or Iowa State comes out on top in the Big 12

Conventional wisdom has Oklahoma against West Virginia in the Big 12 championship game. The two teams also play at the end of the regular season on Thanksgiving weekend, and that game could have serious implications on who reached the league title game.

But another game the week before Thanksgiving will impact how the Oklahoma-West Virginia game is significant. The melee in Austin between Texas and Iowa State could determine what various results might mean a week later in Morgantown. (This, of course, assumes that West Virginia wins at Oklahoma State and the Sooners beat Kansas in Week 12.)

If Iowa State wins the game, their head-to-head win over West Virginia means that they would win a spot in the championship game opposite Oklahoma if the Sooners win on the road over the Mountaineers after Thanksgiving. If Texas wins, they will be rooting for West Virginia to take down the Sooners.

For chaos to ensue and the Big 12 to eliminate itself from the field entirely, the winner of the Cyclones-Longhorns duel needs to reach the title game and then beat the team that helped them get in there.