Baylor Bears fans are not happy first College Football Playoff ranking

But despite the team's recent success, the Cowboys will be a home underdog this Saturday against the TCU Horned Frogs.

That stretch of the season begins this weekend.

Last year, Notre Dame was in a similar position at 7-1, with its only loss a narrow, gutting one on the road against the best team in the ACC. The Irish debuted in the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 10, the eighth-highest ranking for a one-loss team.

The Big 12 was the only major conference without a playoff participant past year, but in 2015, it certainly looks like history will not repeat itself. 

Oklahoma State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games. In fact, two SEC teams were picked over them, and one of them already lost. Boykin passed the 10,000 yard mark in the win against West Virginia. It's a Russian doll effect: Double covering Doctson and using what's left to cover Listenbee gives way for inside the receivers Shaun Nixon, Desmon White, and KaVontae Turpin.

No. 5 Notre Dame (-7.5) at Pittsburgh, Noon: Pittsburgh couldn't stop North Carolina last week, and it won't be able to slow down a Notre Dame offense averaging 36.5 points per game.

The best news for Patterson? "That's why he is the way he is". They do a great job of game planning for him and creating plays for him. "The same can be said for Josh and quite a few others". The defense was loaded with the talent, but even Emmanuel Ogbah is human, and humans get exhausted; with more rest, this Oklahoma State defense will be more unforgiving. I wanted to test the waters a little bit since I have passion for the game beyond playing and watching. Let's say it came down to the final week of the season.

Would you still put an unbeaten Baylor or TCU team into the College Football Playoff over an unbeaten Michigan State team?

Carson, who transferred from Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas, during the off season, leads the team with 95 carries from 365 yards this season. The home team has covered the spread in three straight meetings and they have also hit the under in three straight meetings. Thanks to the return of linemen Davion Pierson, Mike Tuaua and Terrell Lathan, the Horned Frogs have allowed just 10 points over the last seven quarters. Oklahoma State came back from a 15-point deficit to beat Kansas State. "Against Texas Tech I think Derrick was the only starter we had from the Peach Bowl last season".

Where the committee ranks the Bears on Tuesday will tell us a lot. The following weekend, Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1) goes to Baylor (7-0, 4-0), and then the last two weekends of the month feature games within which all those teams playing against each other. A large reason for that is the squad's success at getting to the quarterback. That's partly explained by not scheduling an FCS opponent this season, although the Utes faced downtrodden Fresno State and exploited Oregon's defense for 630 yards. The Cowboys rank sixth nationally in red zone efficiency. Florida State's Dalvin Cook is coming off injury and has to go into Clemson, who allows just 109.1 yards per game on the ground (20th in the country). Senior defensive end Jimmy Bean has 5 1/2 sacks and tackle Vincent Taylor has four. In this game, however, 38 does feel more like a losing number than a winning one.

Memphis was the highest ranked team from a Group of Five conference at No. 13.

The Big 12, Baylor, and TCU shouldn't fret over the initial schedule, there's still plenty of time to state their case to get into the Playoff. That will surely make your defense look better than it is. After all, the Cowboys put up 70 points against Texas Tech compared to TCU's 55 on September 26.

The Frogs are starting to assert themselves on both sides of the ball.