The Pac-12 conference was all but taken out of contention for the College Football Playoff on Saturday as Oregon upset Stanford, 38-36. With the win, Oregon dealt a huge blow to the league's best hope for a playoff berth, and a short time later, Arizona's win over Utah sealed the league's playoff fate. The playoff field is now setting up as a likely battle between five teams for four spots: the league champions from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12, plus Notre Dame.
While it was widely speculated that Notre Dame and Stanford could end up vying for the same playoff spot, the Cardinal loss actually hurts Notre Dame's case. The Fighting Irish have to beat Stanford on Nov. 28 to make the playoff anyway, but Oregon's win over Stanford takes some punch out of a potential Notre Dame win over the Cardinal with the CFP selection committee.
Here are six other things we learned this week in college football:
2. Top quarterbacks down, but not out. Two of the top quarterbacks in college football, Connor Cook of Michigan State and Trevone Boykin of TCU, had injury scares Saturday. Neither played a down in the second half in wins over Maryland and Kansas, respectively, but both were sorely missed. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio and TCU coach Gary Patterson were both optimistic that their signal-callers will be ready to go in crucial games next week against Ohio State and Oklahoma.
3. Close one for Cowboys. The hangover theory about teams coming off a big emotional win got some validation Saturday, as Oklahoma State trailed Iowa State for most of the day a week after toppling unbeaten TCU. But Mike Gundy's team cleared the cobwebs just in time. The Cowboys (10-0) trailed by 10 points after each of the first three quarters, but pulled out a 35-31 win with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. It was a game that had the Big 12 holding its collective breath, as an Iowa State win could have dealt heavy damage to the league's chances of having a College Football Playoff qualifier.
4. Golson done? A concussion knocked Everett Golson out of the FSU quarterback job a few weeks ago, but it was simply his play that earned him a spot on the bench Saturday as Sean Maguire came off the bench to lead FSU over North Carolina State, 34-17. Golson committed three turnovers in FSU's first five drives -- a fumble and a pair of interceptions -- as the Wolfpack gained an early lead. If you're Jimbo Fisher, why turn back to Golson at this point? You're out of the ACC and CFP races, and Golson is an outgoing senior. Maguire figures to be back next year and could use the balance of this season for more experience.
5. Shepard shines. If Oklahoma receiver Sterling Shepard was tired of hearing about Baylor receiver Corey Coleman going into the Sooners' 44-34 win over the Bears on Saturday, he let his play do the talking. Shepard caught 14 passes for 177 yards and a pair of scores to keep OU alive in the Big 12 race, while Coleman had his least productive game of the season (3 for 51).
6. Shade on Rocky Top. North Texas might have lost at Tennessee, 24-0, but the Mean Green's Twitter feed certainly didn't get shut out. The field conditions at Neyland Stadium were, well, less than desirable, and the Mean Green were officially critical of it.
7. The U who? As if Miami's season could endure any more embarrassment than it already has, North Carolina dumped the Hurricanes 59-21 on Saturday to improve to 9-1. And Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams did the worst of things to Miami's signature hand signal.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
