For a little while on Saturday afternoon, it looked as though several College Football Playoff contenders were about to get bounced, and the race could clear up a bit.

Heading into the fourth quarter of the games that kicked off at 3:30 p.m. ET, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 17 USC were all losing. For OU and USC, a third loss would have meant virtual elimination.

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Instead, all three came back to win, with the Sooners taking down Alabama, the Yellow Jackets dodging an upset at Boston College and the Trojans toughing one out against Iowa.

A few weeks ago, we pondered the possibility of a 9-3 team making the 12-team CFP field. What we learned about the Playoff in Week 12 is we’re now looking at probably more than enough 10-win teams to fill the bracket. And Texas won’t be one of them.

Irish closing in. Miami shut out?

Marcus Freeman has already lost multiple games in his Notre Dame tenure with his team as a multiple-touchdown favorite (hello, Northern Illinois), so surely he doesn’t want to hear any of this, but it looks like the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish might have unofficially clinched a Playoff spot against Pitt on Saturday.

Jeremiyah Love and the Irish (8-2) had no issue with the Panthers and only have games remaining against Syracuse at home next week and at Stanford on Thanksgiving weekend. The Orange and Cardinal are a combined 6-14, with three ACC victories.

For a Notre Dame team that has won eight straight games by an a