Stanford climbed two more spots in the playoff rankings to number nine, behind a cluster of teams from the Big 10 and Big 12 among others. Jason Kirk and Pete Volk of SB Nation had this to say about the latest rankings:
"This Saturday's Notre Dame vs. Stanford isn't quite a qualifier, but it is an eliminator. The winner will join the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State Bedlam winner (OU's the big winner of the week, vaulting all the way from No. 7 after beating TCU and maybe even putting itself in the top group) and possibly Baylor in the holding pen; the Bears and Cardinal would also have games during conference championship weekend (and Stanford would have a real chance to impress against USC or UCLA), but the others in this group would be sitting and waiting.