Notre Dame remains ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff race, surviving a week where pundits expected two surging Big 12 teams to close the gap. Yet the Irish’s 21-point victory over Wake Forest—not to mention their body of work for the season—kept them comfortably above a narrowing pack behind the lead group.
The biggest win of the week belonged to No. 7 Oklahoma, who beat Baylor last weekend, the Bears falling from No. 6 down to No. 11. Stanford was the other big loser of the weekend, dropping from No. 7 to No. 11—now needing what might be divine intervention (not to mention a win over Notre Dame) to find its way into the final four.