College Football Playoff picture: What to watch during Ohio State's bye week
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio State will spend the week resting and recovering before kicking off conference play next week. But as it rests, many other playoff contenders will play in season-defining games.
Week 4 will have three games between ranked teams, one of which is in the Big Ten and will be broadcast on NBC4. Each of these games will turn dark horses into serious playoff contenders. Here is a look at the major changes in the 12-team playoff projections and the key games to watch that could affect the playoff.
The roulette of top teams won't stop soon
The Associated Press poll voters shifted a whole bunch of the top 10 after a wild Week 3. NBC4 looks at the AP rankings until the initial official playoff rankings begin in November for playoff projections.
The only new team in this week's top 12 is Texas A&M, whose 41-40 win over Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, has it ranked No. 10 and fighting for a playoff spot.
Although Ohio State, Penn State and LSU have solidified the top three, for now, ACC leader Miami became the new No. 4 seed with a 49-12 win over South Florida. This puts three projected conference winners as bye teams in the current bracket.
Miami's move up to the quarterfinal spot pushed Oregon down into the first round, where it is projected to play Iowa State. The Ducks, who entered Week 3 ranked No. 4, also fell below Georgia, which moved up to No. 5 and in this projection would play USF.
These little ranking changes will have bigger implications when we get the official bracket chosen in December. A dominant win over a contender vs. a close win over an inferior opponent could be the difference between earning a bye or playing in the first round.
Diving into projected conference winners
Five conference champions will be guaranteed spots and in our current projection, two of them sit outside the top 12.
Big 12 leader Iowa State seems destined to keep its stranglehold over the conference for a bit as its next tough test is Oct. 25 against BYU.
USF was taken out of the rankings despite ranked wins over Boise State and Florida. The Bulls will enter American Athletic Conference play soon but won't play its biggest foe in the conference, Tulane, which is at No. 13 Mississippi this week.
No. 1 Ohio State has a bit of time until it faces a ranked opponent Oct. 11 at Illinois. No. 3 LSU will take it easy Saturday, hosting Southeastern Louisiana before a game at Ole Miss. No. 4 Miami has No. 7 Florida State hot on its tail, and the two will meet on Oct. 4 in Tallahassee.
Three games to watch in Week 4
No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah (Saturday, noon): Saturday's spotlight game at noon will determine which Big 12 team sits second only to Iowa State. The Red Raiders and Utes could set off fireworks, with oddsmakers predicting over 58 points in the game.
No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.): The winner of this SEC contest in Norman will be 4-0 and put itself in the mix to win the conference. Storylines abound as Auburn's starting quarterback, Jackson Arnold, who transferred from Oklahoma, faces his former team.
No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. on NBC4): Big Ten Saturday Night will be in Bloomington as the Illini and Hoosiers clash on NBC4. Can Illinois cement itself as a likely playoff team out of the Big Ten, or will Indiana have some magic left from last season to pull off the home win?