SMQ: How difficult is it to finish a college football season undefeated?

4th Down: Five key matchups to look forward to in Week 10

With our last down of the week, Sunday Morning Quarterback breaks from looking back at the previous week and turns to focus on the coming week. Which games could have the biggest impact on the College Football Playoff race?

Oklahoma at Baylor

The College Football Playoff selection committee thinks very little of Oklahoma at this point of the season. The unbeaten Sooners debuted at No. 8 in the initial batch of committee rankings, sitting behind four Power Five teams with a loss as well as undefeated Group of Five favorite Cincinnati. Baylor’s close loss to TCU in Week 10 takes a bit of the luster off this showdown in Waco, but we could still be witnessing a preview of the Big 12 championship game. At this point Oklahoma remains the conference’s last best hope of reaching the Playoff, and a Baylor victory would not just upset the balance of power in the league but also eliminate the Big 12 from a Playoff spot.

Minnesota at Iowa

The Floyd of Rosedale is one of the greatest trophies in college football, with the Hawkeyes and Golden Gophers playing for a bronze pig sculpture since 1936. For a while it looked like Iowa could threaten to reach the College Football Playoff. Now it appears that the Hawkeyes were pretenders rather than contenders in the quest for national honors. But both of these schools are still very much in contention for the Big Ten West crown and a trip to Indianapolis for the conference championship game. Both teams are 4-2 in league play, two of four teams gridlocked in the division standings. The winner stays alive in the hunt, the loser cedes all hope of a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Purdue at Ohio State

This could be the ultimate trap game for Ohio State. The Buckeyes cannot get caught looking ahead to their showdowns against Michigan State and Michigan over the rest of November, because three years ago the Buckeyes went to West Lafayette and collapsed against the Boilermakers. This season, Purdue has already taken down two teams ranked in the top five at the time of their showdown. The game is played in Columbus this time around, but Ryan Day will need to have his squad on high alert. Ohio State is basically guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff if they win out—but the margin for error is dwindling, and a second loss at the Horseshoe effectively eliminates the Buckeyes from contention for national spoils.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss

Texas A&M sits a game behind Alabama in the SEC West race. Ole Miss hovers a game and a half back in the table. The Aggies still have a shot to pip the Crimson Tide if Nick Saban’s squad loses another game, since A&M enjoys the head-to-head tiebreaker. Jimbo Fisher’s crew can only take advantage of that tiebreaker if they keep winning, though, and Week 11 features a second straight showdown against a top-15 opponent. The challenge for Texas A&M is holding a prolific Ole Miss offense in check, especially on the road in Oxford. This game is critical to the committee as an elimination game of sorts, with a close contest keeping both teams in the rankings.

NC State at Wake Forest

The ACC is effectively eliminated from College Football Playoff contention after Wake Forest sacrificed a 14-point lead in Week 10 to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at North Carolina. The loss didn’t count toward the conference standings, but it still hurt a Demon Deacons team already deemed the least impressive of the remaining undefeated Power Five programs. NC State, meanwhile, continues to push up the committee’s list after winning six of their last seven contests. The winner has the inside track at the ACC Atlantic crown in Clemson’s down year, while the loser falls at least one game back in the race with the tiebreaker.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for another edition of the new-look Sunday Morning Quarterback next week!