TCU, Baylor muddle college football playoff picture
FORT WORTH, Texas - Trevone Boykin passed for a career-high 460 yards and caught a touchdown pass as No. 4 TCU earned at least a share of the Big 12 championship and kept its playoff bid alive.
Aaron Green scored two touchdowns for TCU and Derrick Kindred returned an interception 44 yards for a score in the third quarter to put the Frogs up 34-3.
The Horned Frogs (11-1, 8-1) came into championship weekend ranked third in the College Football Playoff selection committee's rankings. TCU was the only playoff contender not playing a ranked team this weekend.
Iowa State finished winless in the Big 12 for the first time since 2008, and the first time under sixth-year coach Paul Rhoads.
There wasn't much the Frogs could do help themselves against the Cyclones (2-10, 0-9), but they avoided the type of clunker that could have caused the committee to downgrade them.
The other Big 12 team to share their championship was Baylor, which beat beat TCU 61-58 on Oct. 11 by rallying from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but the committee up to now has liked TCU's resume better.
Florida State and Ohio State, the two teams between TCU and Baylor in the playoff rankings, also won on Saturday night.
CBSSports.com's Jon Solomon writes that Baylor coach Art Briles "declared his team to the crowd as the only Big 12 champion. The night ended with Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Briles engaged in an animated conversation on the podium about the Big 12 presenting co-champions to the committee, a fact No. 6 Baylor doesn't like because it defeated No. 3 TCU back in October."
"If you're going to slogan around and say One True Champion, and all of a sudden you're going to go out the back door instead of the front?" Briles said. "Don't say one thing and do another."
So far, the college football playoff committee has indicated that head-to-head matchups aren't as important as overall performance, Solomon writes.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 42, NO. 14 MISSOURI 13
ATLANTA - Alabama locked up another title, with plenty of style points for the playoff committee.
Now, the Crimson Tide can go after the crown it really wants.
Blake Sims threw a pair of touchdown passes, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry each had a couple of touchdown runs, and top-ranked Alabama pulled away in the fourth quarter to win its 24th Southeastern Conference championship with a 42-13 rout of No. 14 Missouri on Saturday.
Amari Cooper did nothing to hurt his Heisman chances with 12 receptions, the most in the game's 23-year history.
Missouri (10-3) was within one score in the third quarter, but Alabama (12-1) scored three touchdowns over the final 15 minutes to lock up its spot in college football's inaugural playoff. And if the committee was impressed by second-ranked Oregon's 51-13 rout of Arizona in the Pac-12 title game Friday night, they got another equally dominating performance from the team on top of its latest rankings.
NO. 2 FLORIDA STATE 37, NO. 12 GEORGIA TECH 35
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Jameis Winston threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns, and Florida State won its third consecutive ACC championship.
The Seminoles (13-0, 9-0, No. 4 CFP) will find out Sunday if it's enough to earn them a berth in the first College Football Playoff. All four of the top-ranked teams in the playoff rankings were victorious over the weekend.
Rashad Greene had seven catches for 123 yards and two scores to help extend the Seminoles' winning streak to 29 games.
Synjyn Days ran for 67 yards and three touchdowns for Georgia Tech (10-3, 6-3, No. 11 CFP), which rushed for 331 yards.
NO. 5 BAYLOR 38, NO. 9 KANSAS STATE 27
WACO, Texas - Bryce Petty threw for 412 yards, Johnny Jefferson had two touchdown runs and Baylor claimed a share of its second consecutive Big 12 title.
The Bears (11-1, 8-1, No. 6 CFP) now have to wait and see if they will get a chance to be in the first College Football Playoff.
Baylor and TCU (11-1, 8-1, No. 3 CFP) tied for the top spot in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs were ranked higher in the most recent committee poll, but they lost to the Bears 61-58 on Oct. 11.
Petty completed 34 of 40 passes with a touchdown and an interception, a week after getting knocked out of the Bears' last game with a concussion.
Jake Waters was 22 of 27 for 300 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas State (9-3, 7-2), which was trying for its second Big 12 title in three years. Tyler Lockett had 14 catches for 158 yards with an 8-yard TD.
NO. 6 OHIO STATE 59, NO. 11 WISCONSIN 0
INDIANAPOLIS - Cardale Jones threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns, Ezekiel Elliott ran for a career-high 220 yards and two scores and Ohio State made an emphatic statement in the Big Ten championship game.
The Buckeyes (12-1, 8-0, No. 5 CFP) are hoping to grab one of the four spots in this year's inaugural playoff.
Ohio State has won 11 straight, this time with Jones, who started the season No. 3 on the quarterback depth chart. Jones finished 12 of 17 and led the Buckeyes to scores on five of their first six possessions, building a 38-0 halftime lead.
Melvin Gordon ran for 76 yards for the Badgers (10-3, 7-1, No. 13), who had won seven in a row. It was Wisconsin's worst loss since 1979 and its first shutout since 1997.
OKLAHOMA STATE 38, NO. 18 OKLAHOMA 35, OT
NORMAN, Okla. - Tyreek Hill returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining in regulation and Ben Grogan kicked a 21-yard field goal in overtime, sending Oklahoma State to the win.
On the first overtime possession, Oklahoma's Michael Hunnicutt missed a 44-yard field goal attempt. Oklahoma State took over and pounded the ball with Desmond Roland to set up the winning kick.
Hill caught the ball at the Oklahoma State 8. The track sprinter cut toward the left sideline, split two defenders, picked up a block at the Oklahoma State 45 and went all the way to the end zone. He finished the game with 186 all-purpose yards.
Mason Rudolph passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys (6-6, 4-5 Big 12), who snapped a five-game losing streak.
Samaje Perine ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns for Oklahoma (8-4, 5-4), but left the game in the third quarter with a severely sprained left ankle.
NO. 22 BOISE STATE 28, FRESNO STATE 14
BOISE, Idaho - Grant Hedrick ran for two touchdowns to lead Boise State to the Mountain West Conference championship.
Boise State (11-2), which claimed a share of the conference title in 2012, won its first outright league championship since joining the Mountain West four years ago. The Broncos preserved their chance to get the lone slot for a team outside the power five conferences in a major New Year's Day bowl game.
Hedrick was 9 of 16 passing for 155 yards, and had 81 yards rushing with the two scores to earn the game's offensive MVP honors.
Tanner Vallejo, who had 13 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown, won the defensive MVP award.
After winning the inaugural Mountain West championship game last year, Fresno State (6-7) lost to the Broncos for the second time this season.