If those 2 things happen here's what the rankings could look like after this week:

1 Clemson
2 Alabama
3 Iowa
4 Michigan State
5 Oklahoma State
6 Stanford
7 tOSU/Michigan winner

Stanford then beats the USC/UCLA winner in the Pac-12 championship game. Here's how the final rankings end up

1 Clemson
2 Alabama
3 Iowa/Michigan State winner
4 Stanford
5 Oklahoma State
6 tOSU/Michigan winner
7 Iowa/Michigan State loser

That particular scenario would yet again show that the Big 12's lack of a conference championship game kept them out of the playoff.