1. No. 3 Auburn 35, No. 4 Ole Miss 31
As far as brutal, soul-destroying defeats go, you'll be hard pressed to find anything that tops the one that happened to Ole Miss on Saturday.
Hoping to come away with a last-second victory over Auburn, the Rebels lost both the game and star wide receiver Laquon Treadwell on the same play, when he was dragged down from behind, fumbling just short of the end zone as his leg gave out from under him. Auburn would recover and eventually hang on for the win. Cruelly unfair as it might be, the loss -- Ole Miss' second in a row -- will knock them out of that Playoff spot this week, and almost certainly the SEC West title race, as well.
Auburn is now entrenched at No. 3, with a quality out-of-conference win at No. 9 Kansas State and a quality loss to No. 1 Mississippi State. If Auburn can win at No. 6 Alabama in a few weeks, an SEC championship might not even be necessary for the Tigers.
2. No. 7 TCU 31, No. 20 West Virginia 30
TCU's dream is still alive, thanks to the leg of Jaden Oberkrom. The junior's 37-yard field goal as time ran out sealed a victory at West Virginia, and keeps the Horned Frogs firmly in the Big 12 championship race.
If Gary Patterson's outfit can get through next weekend's game against Kansas State unscathed, the rest of the schedule (at Kansas, at Texas, Iowa State) sets up nicely. The four representatives from the SEC West that rank ahead of the Frogs -- Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss (which lost), and MSU -- still have several matchups with each other left to go, leaving the door open for Patterson's group to sneak in.
3. Florida 38, No. 11 Georgia 20
Although Georgia sat at No. 11, it wasn't yet out of the race for a top four berth. All it had to do was avoid any new slipups and beat the SEC West winner. Well, all that talk in Athens can be put to rest, because in the latest edition of The Game Formerly Known As The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, the Bulldogs fell hard. The embattled Will Muschamp and his Florida Gators pulled off the upset.
The loss also puts the Dawgs' SEC East chances in jeopardy as well. They've already played Missouri (which should get into the rankings this week) and now trail the Tigers by a game, meaning they'll need outside help just to get to Atlanta.
4. No. 22 UCLA 17, No. 12 Arizona 7
The Pac-12 South, which entered the weekend with three one-loss teams, is now down to one. The Bruins blocked a field goal with two minutes left, locking up a win over the only team that had beaten No. 5 Oregon. While it's looking less and less likely that anyone from this division reaches the Playoff, we are gonna get one entertaining race to meet the Ducks in the conference title game.
The Bruins or Wildcats could still sneak into a New Year's bowl, with both having decent losses and wins over good teams, but the Playoff seems like a longshot for any two-loss team not in the SEC West.
5. No. 14 Arizona State 19, No. 17 Utah 16 (OT)
That sole one-loss team in the Pac-12 South? The defending division champions.
That means we're talking about a team that lost by a 62-27 score earlier in the year, to those Bruins, being still in the running for just about anything. The Sun Devils welcome No. 10 Notre Dame next week in a game that could very well get the "College GameDay" spotlight, followed by a couple likely wins and a trip to Arizona. If ASU can weather all that, it's well inside the top 10 heading into the Pac-12 Championship.
But for now, a team that had its defense gutted by graduation and attrition and lost starting quarterback Taylor Kelly for several weeks earlier in the season is tops in a power-conference division.
6. Temple 20, No. 23 East Carolina 10
Being from a non-power conference, East Carolina never really had a shot at the Playoff, but its standing at No. 23 was important. The committee guarantees one New Year's bowl spot to the top-ranked non-power champion, and that was ECU coming into Saturday.
It's probably no longer going to be ECU. After an unexpected 20-10 loss to the Temple Owls, plus ECU's signature wins against Virginia Tech and North Carolina becoming not quite so signature, the next teams in the running include Boise State, Colorado State, and Marshall, all of whom are currently unranked.
Full FBS final scores
Saturday games
No. 1 Mississippi State 17, Arkansas 10 (recap)
No. 3 Auburn 35, No. 4 Ole Miss 31 (recap)
No. 5 Oregon 45, Stanford 16 (recap)
No. 7 TCU 31, No. 20 West Virginia 30 (recap)
No. 9 Kansas State 48, Oklahoma State 14 (recap)
No. 10 Notre Dame 49, Navy 39 (recap)
Florida 38, No. 11 Georgia 20 (recap)
No. 22 UCLA 17, No. 12 Arizona 7 (recap)
No. 13 Baylor 60, Kansas 14 (recap)
No. 14 Arizona State 19, No. 17 Utah 16 (OT) (recap)
No. 15 Nebraska 35, Purdue 14 (recap)
No. 16 Ohio State 55, Illinois 14 (recap)
No. 18 Oklahoma 59, Iowa State 14 (recap)
Temple 20, No. 23 East Carolina 10 (recap)
No. 24 Duke 51, Pittsburgh 48 (2OT) (recap)
Air Force 23, Army 6 (recap)
Appalachian State 44, Georgia State 0
Arkansas State 44, Idaho 28 (recap)
Boston College 33, Virginia Tech 31 (recap)
BYU 27, Middle Tennessee 7 (recap)
Cal 45, Oregon State 31 (recap)
Central Michigan 38, Eastern Michigan 7 (recap)
Colorado State 38, San Jose State 31 (recap)
Connecticut 37, UCF 29 (recap)
Georgia Tech 35, Virginia 10 (recap)
Houston 27, South Florida 3 (recap)
Iowa 48, Northwestern 7 (recap)
Louisiana Tech 59, Western Kentucky 10 (recap)
Louisiana-Lafayette 19, South Alabama 9 (recap)
Maryland 20, Penn State 19 (recap)
Miami 47, North Carolina 20 (recap)
Michigan 34, Indiana 10 (recap)
Missouri 20, Kentucky 10 (recap)
Nevada 30, San Diego State 14 (recap)
New Mexico 31, UNLV 28
North Carolina State 24, Syracuse 17 (recap)
Rice 31, Florida International 17 (recap)
Tennessee 45, South Carolina 42 (OT) (recap)
Texas 34, Texas Tech 13 (recap)
Texas A&M 21, Louisiana-Monroe 16 (recap)
Texas State 37, New Mexico State 29 (recap)
UAB 31, Florida Atlantic 28
USC 44, Washington State 17 (recap)
Utah State 34, Hawaii 14
UTEP 35, Southern Miss 14 (recap)
Vanderbilt 42, Old Dominion 28
Washington 38, Colorado 23 (recap)
Western Michigan 41, Miami (Ohio) 10 (recap)
Wisconsin 37, Rutgers 0 (recap)
Wyoming 45, Fresno State 17 (recap)
Weeknight games
No. 2 Florida State 42, No. 25 Louisville 31 (recap)
Cincinnati 38, Tulane 14 (recap)
Georgia Southern 42, Troy 10 (recap)
Memphis 40, Tulsa 20