NCAAF teams
Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

The CFP trickle-down effect of Ohio State's loss

College Football, Clemson Tigers, West Virginia Mountaineers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Washington State Cougars, Louisville Cardinals, Texas A&M Aggies, Michigan Wolverines

There you are, chaos.

After what seemed like a sleepy start to Saturday, college football rang the alarm in Happy Valley and woke us all up when Penn State upended No. 2 Ohio State 24-21, altering what we thought we knew about the Big Ten pecking order.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh doesn't even need his oversized glasses to see his Wolverines are now the team to beat.

At least in the Big Ten.

With the exception of the Buckeyes and Texas A&M, the remaining undefeated teams all won (Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, Alabama, West Virginia, Boise State, Western Michigan). Clemson and Baylor were both off.

With six more weeks in the regular season, there is still plenty of time for more topsy-turvy results, but here's a look at five lessons learned on a week when Penn State found a way to flip the script:

1. Ohio State must win out. The Buckeyes are down, but they're not out. If they win out, that would include a home victory against Michigan, and Ohio State would have the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two one-loss teams. There's no more margin for error, but it's also important to remember that six of the past eight semifinalists had a loss, so it's also the norm. The problem is, Ohio State still has to play undefeated West division front-runner Nebraska on Nov. 5, and they've got to fix some problems offensively, as J.T. Barrett was sacked six times (five in the second half). Ohio State should also hope that West Virginia and Washington trip up to avoid being compared against an undefeated league champ.

2. Texas A&M is a long shot. The Aggies' chances of winning the SEC West are now highly improbable, and any hope of sneaking into the top four even as a one-loss team took a punch to the gut. Texas A&M now needs Alabama to lose twice in its final four games -- a very manageable lineup that includes a road trip to LSU on Nov. 5, followed by three straight home games against Mississippi State, Chattanooga and Auburn. Had it been a down-to-the-wire thriller, the selection committee likely would have considered an 11-1 Texas A&M team. Because the offense faltered in the second half, allowing Alabama to pull away, it's unlikely the SEC gets two teams in now. The Aggies averaged just 1.5 yards per play during their final five drives of the game and scored zero points.

3. Hello again, Louisville. While the SEC's odds of getting two teams in the committee's top four took a nosedive, the ACC might have boosted its chances with Louisville's 54-13 dismantling of NC State. If Clemson runs the table and wins the ACC title, the Tigers are as close to a lock in the top four as you can get. It's impossible not to notice, though, how thoroughly dominant Louisville looked against a team Clemson was fortunate to beat at home last week, 24-17. The best-case scenario for the ACC to have two top-four teams is for Clemson to remain undefeated, which won't be easy with a trip to Florida State looming on Saturday. The Seminoles will also be another common opponent used to measure Clemson against Louisville, as the Cardinals caught the nation's attention when they embarrassed FSU 63-20 on Sept. 17. Louisville's résumé could be impacted, though, by Houston's loss to SMU. Houston was the only ranked opponent remaining on Louisville's schedule. That game already lost its luster when Houston lost to Navy, but the loss to SMU could drop the Cougars from the Top 25 entirely.

4. It's time to take West Virginia seriously. The Mountaineers legitimized their stance as a Big 12 title contender with their Week 7 win at Texas Tech, but with a convincing win over TCU on Saturday, they took it one step further and validated their spot in the College Football Playoff conversation. WVU is now 6-0 for the first time since 2006, and much of that success can be attributed to the defensive improvements. The Mountaineers have held their past two opponents to 27 combined points, including none by TCU in the second half on Saturday.

5. Washington State still has major Pac-12 spoiler potential. Wazzu is not a playoff team -- not with losses to Eastern Washington and Boise State -- but it's still undefeated in league play, which means if it wins out, it wins the North. Period. Even with one loss -- a distinct possibility considering a road trip to Colorado on Nov. 19 -- the division title would come down to the Apple Cup. If the Cougars can pull off the upset, the entire Pac-12 could be left out of the playoff -- again.

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