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LWOS College Football Week 14 Top 25

The LWOS Week 14 Top 25 doesn't have many surprises at the top as there weren't many surprises in yesterday's conference title games.

Those of you who were hoping for chaos to reign during Saturday’s conference championship games were thoroughly disappointed.

Clemson, Alabama and Michigan State all won their league titles and are expected to join Oklahoma in the second edition of the College Football Playoff. The committee releases their final Top 25 at noon on Sunday and most expect those four to emerge as this year’s semifinalists.

MSU turned in the most down-to-the-wire performance in their win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game. Trailing the Hawkeyes 13-9 in the fourth quarter, quarterback Connor Cook led the Spartans on a masterful 22 play touchdown drive that started from their own 18 and took over nine minutes off the clock. The loss on the part of Iowa means that Clemson finishes the season as the only undefeated program in FBS.

Stanford lived up to their end of the bargain in beating USC to capture this year’s Pac-12 title. Still, it was always going to be a long shot as to moving up into the top four. The virtually upset-free Saturday among the CFP frontrunners ensured that the Cardinal would be on the outside looking in. If there’s any consolation prize, it may be that Christian McCaffery may have made a pretty convincing case for Heisman Trophy consideration with his performance on Saturday night.

Elsewhere down the rankings, Houston looks all but assured of being the Group of Five school to receive a New Year’s Six bowl bid. The Cougars downed Temple at home 24-13 to win the American Conference title and will undoubtedly end up as the highest ranked non-Power Five program. It is anticipated that UH will garner an invite from either the Fiesta or Peach Bowl.

And with that, all of us now eagerly await the selection committee’s announcement of the CFP semifinalists, as well as which team is headed where during bowl season. Thanks to everyone who contributed to these rankings and the accompanying blurbs on a weekly basis.