Week 2 was supposed to be the high-profile SEC-Big Ten games: Oklahoma State-Michigan State and Ohio State-Texas.
While both games proved interesting in their own ways — the Wolverines outplayed the Sooners in a defensive battle and the Longhorns came back from a 20-point deficit — the most impactful may have been the Big Ten and Big 12 games: Oregon State vs. Oklahoma State.
The Ducks, who beat the Pokes last season, are 23.5-point favorites. But with Drew Mestemaker and the Cowboys totaling 554 yards of offense, OSU won 39-31. Oregon’s loss knocks the Ducks out of the playoff picture.
The College Football Playoff selections are still a long way off, but these games will certainly factor into it.
Here are our experts’ top 12 College Football Playoff picks:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Notre Dame 2. Texas 3. Louisiana State University 4. Miami 5. Texas A&M 6. Georgia 7. Indiana 8. Alabama 9. Brigham Young University 10. Ohio State University 11. Ole Boise State
Kyle Bonagula: 1. Notre Dame 2. Indiana 3. Texas 4. Georgia 5. Ohio State 6. Louisiana State University 7. Miami 8. Alabama 9. Texas A&M 10. Texas Tech 11. Brigham Young University
bill connolly: 1. Texas 2. Notre Dame 3. Georgia 4. LSU 5. Miami 6. Florida State 7. Indiana 8. Alabama 9. Brigham Young University 10. Texas A&M 11. Mississippi State 12. Tulsa
David Hare: 1. University of Notre Dame 2. Miami 3. Louisiana State University 4. Georgia 5. Texas 6. Ohio State University 7. Indiana 8. Texas A&M 9. University of Mississippi 10. Brigham Young University 11. Boise State University of Southern California
Eli Lederman: 1. Notre Dame 2. Miami 3. Georgia 4. Texas 5. Indiana 6. Ohio State 7. Texas A&M 8. Brigham Young University 9. Louisiana State University 10. Oregon 11. SMU 12. Boise State
Max Olson: 1. Texas 2. Miami 3. Notre Dame 4. Ohio State 5. Georgia 6. Louisiana State University 7. Indiana 8. Texas A&M 9. Brigham Young University 10. Alabama 11. University of Southern California 12. North Dakota State University
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Texas 2. Notre Dame 3. Georgia 4. Miami 5. Louisiana State University 6. Indiana 7. Ohio State 8. Brigham Young University. 9. Ole Miss 10. USC 11. Alabama 12. Boise State
Alex Scarborough: 1. University of Notre Dame 2. Texas 3. Miami 4. Georgia 5. Indiana 6. Ohio State University 7. Louisiana State University 8. University of Mississippi 9. University of Southern California 10. Brigham Young University 11. Texas A&M University 12. Boise State University
Mark Schlabach: 1. Texas 2. Georgia 3. Notre Dame 4. Indiana 5. Miami 6. Louisiana State University 7. Ohio State University 8. Brigham Young University 9. University of Mississippi 10. Texas Tech University 11. Texas A&M University 12. Boise State University
Jack Trotter: 1. Texas 2. Notre Dame 3. Miami 4. Georgia 5. Indiana 6. Ohio State 7. Louisiana State University 8. Brigham Young University 9. Alabama 10. University of Mississippi 11. Oklahoma 12. Boise State
Paolo Ugeti: 1. Texas 2. Georgia 3. Miami 4. Notre Dame 5. Indiana 6. Louisiana State University 7. Ohio State University 8. Brigham Young University 9. University of Southern California 10. University of Mississippi 11. Texas A&M University 12. Boise State University
Dave Wilson: 1. Notre Dame 2. Texas 3. Miami 4. Georgia 5. Indiana 6. Ohio State 7. Louisiana State University 8. Brigham Young University 9. University of Southern California 10. Texas A&M 11. University of Mississippi 12. Boise State