Last week we talked about Oklahoma losing out on a playoff spot, but instead it was Oregon who fell. That moves a Big Ten team into the playoffs. The best candidate in the Big Ten is Iowa, coming off a dominating win at Maryland. What makes Iowa the best option at this point is the fact that they are in the Big Ten West. The West is pretty bad and there may not be an offense in the division that can score more than a garbage time touchdown against the Hawkeyes. Of course there are some crossover games too and the most interesting is coming up this week when Penn State comes to town. If Iowa beats the Nittany Lions, they will be heavily favored all the way to the Big Ten Championship Game.
American: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, UCF
ACC: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Big 12: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, West Virginia
Big Ten: Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
C-USA: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Texas-San Antonio, UTEP
Independent: Army, BYU, Liberty, Notre Dame
MAC: Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan
MWC: Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming
Pac-12: Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas A&M
Sun Belt: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, South Alabama, Troy
