How Week 12 changed the College Football Playoff rankings picture

Saturday's guaranteed to change the College Football Playoff committee's top 25, with six games between ranked teams in addition to the usual sure mayhem.

Prettying the resume

• No. 7 Oklahoma 30, No. 18 TCU 29: The Sooners get the boost of this win and the boost of the Baylor team they've beaten knocking off Oklahoma State, but they also might no longer have a top-10 OSU up next week. Either way, OU is still the Big 12's best hope.
• No. 9 Michigan State 17, No. 3 Ohio State 14: If MSU beats Penn State next week, it's going to play Iowa for the Big Ten Championship. Beat another top-five team, and the Spartans are in. The rest of MSU's schedule had a good week, with Air Force clinching its division and Oregon beating USC.
• No. 10 Baylor 45, No. 6 Oklahoma State 35: With backup QB Chris Johnson leading a takedown of the third-to-last unbeaten, the Bears are still very much in the Playoff race. I think. TCU likely falling out of the top 25 after losses to Oklahoma and Baylor could mean Baylor would need both OU and Notre Dame to lose.
• No. 11 Stanford 35, Cal 22: It's another win over another bowl team. The Cardinal have a lot of those. The loss to Northwestern has become forgivable again, and without really needing any "body clocks" explanations by the committee.
• No. 12 Michigan 28, Penn State 16: PSU remains 7-4, and this counts as a quality road win for the Wolverines. U-M would have a decent chance at the Playoff, if not for MSU making the chances of a Big Ten title much less likely for the Wolverines. That win over Northwestern's becoming really good again, while that loss to Utah's becoming ehhh.
• No. 20 Northwestern 13, No. 25 Wisconsin 7: Hey, something that actually hurts Alabama! This helps Stanford a good bit. It's a wash for Iowa, which has beaten both.
• No. 22 Ole Miss, 38, No. 15 LSU 15: The Rebels are still sneaking around with a chance at a Sugar Bowl bid. No, this doesn't really hurt Bama, unless the Tigers plummet all the way out of the top 25 after being No. 2 just a couple weeks ago.
• No. 23 Oregon 48, No. 24 USC 28: The Ducks were left for dead, and now they're all but guaranteed a top-20 ranking entering bowl season.

SB Nation presents: Baylor and Michigan State highlight explosive Week 12

Holding steady

• No. 1 Clemson 33, Wake Forest 13: Sure!
• No. 2 Alabama 56, Charleston Southern 6: That's fine!
• No. 4 Notre Dame 19, Boston College 16: It's kind of a road game, since it's at Fenway Park, and BC has an elite defense, but it still won't wow anybody. Pitt and Temple could replace USC in the rankings, so ND's schedule holds up fine, and that win over Navy is becoming one of the season's biggest.
• No. 14 Florida State 52, Chattanooga 13: The SEC isn't the only conference enjoying a cupcake weekend in November. Whatever. FSU's got a good shot at a New Year's bowl. BTW, that win over USF is becoming a legit good win.
• No. 5 Iowa 40, Purdue 20: Zero people are impressed, but clinching a spot in the Big Ten Championship and reaching 11-0 is much better than not, in my opinion. Beating Pitt is still pretty good.
• No. 16 Navy 44, Tulsa 21: This could count as a solid road win if Tulsa wins at Tulane next week.
• No. 17 North Carolina 30, Virginia Tech 27 (OT): Can't move the needle much right now, but if the Hokies beat Virginia next week in Frank Beamer's last game, this counts as a road win against a .500 team. However, UNC now has a transitive loss to The Citadel, thanks to South Carolina.

Who could join the rankings? (And who'd stand to benefit?)

• Air Force, 8-3 after winning at Boise State, 37-30 (Michigan State, Navy)
• Georgia, 8-3 after beating Georgia Southern, 23-17 in OT (Alabama, Florida)
• Mississippi State, 8-3 after winning at Arkansas, 51-50 (Alabama, LSU I guess)
• Pitt, 8-3 after beating Louisville, 45-34 (Iowa, North Carolina, Notre Dame)
• Temple, 9-2 after beating No. 21 Memphis, 31-12 (Notre Dame)
• Tennessee, 7-4 after winning at Missouri, 19-8 (Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma)
• Toledo, 9-1 after winning at Bowling Green, 44-28 (uhhh Arkansas I guess)
• UCLA, 8-3 after winning at No. 17 Utah, 17-9 (Stanford)
• Western Kentucky, 9-2 after winning at FIU, 63-7 (LSU for what it's worth)