College Football Playoff Rankings: Frogs Hop Florida State for No. 3 Spot

Wow. That just happened.

The TCU Horned Frogs made a big move  in Tuesday's College Football Playoff Rankings, jumping both Mississippi State and Florida State to lay claim to the No. 3 spot. It appears that the committee was very impressed with the Frogs' 48-10 victory over Texas on Thanksgiving and one would think it would be virtually impossible for the Frogs to be left out of playoffs come Sunday assuming business is taken care of against Iowa State on Saturday.

With Florida State at No. 4, Ohio State at 5, it appears the Baylor Bears only hope to  make the playoffs is for mass chaos at the top and a dominating win over No. 9 Kansas State on Saturday.

Now, a lot of people are still perplexed why TCU is ranked three spots higher than Baylor. That is understandable if one views the teams based strictly on head-to-head. After all, Baylor did beat TCU 61-58 on Oct. 11. But the Bears followed up an improbable victory over the Frogs (trailed by 21 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter) with a 41-27 loss at West Virginia the following week.

According to committee chair and Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long, the Frogs would be selected over Baylor due in large part to a 30-7 victory over Minnesota and the committee's belief that TCU is an improving football team.

Could the roles be reversed if Baylor thrashes a good Kansas State team on Saturday and the Frogs squeak by Iowa State?

All I know is that everyone needs to fasten their seatbelts because Saturday is going to be great theater with a slew of huge games, the most important being the Horned Frogs tilt against Iowa State at 11 a.m.

If Gary Patterson can keep his players grounded and focused against the Cyclones, TCU is likely to have its ticket punched for the inaugural College Football Playoffs on Sunday.