Keeping track of top-25 results, with postseason notes on each game as it goes final.

Week 11 was probably the least consequential of the 2018 college football season, with zero top-10 teams losing. Well, Week 12 might be more of the same at the top, but remember: the madness is in the middle this year. And there are big stakes (even before the inevitable upsets), though we’re kicking most of them down the road to Rivalry Weekend.

Below, we’re keeping track of each top-25 game’s impact, both before and after final scores, mostly paying attention to CFP committee business, not highlights and stuff.

Remember the things the committee has mostly demonstrated it rewards: wins over final top-25 teams, wins over bowl teams, road wins, dominant wins, weirdly excusable losses, being Alabama, and not being a mid-major. It does not care what your opponent’s ranking was at kickoff.

All times ET. All days Saturday, unless noted. Final scores in bold.

Probably important

Games in which the winning team should have a high-quality victory by season’s end or games that will decide a Power 5 division race. Or: really meaningful upsets.

• No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Syracuse: With a win, Notre Dame’s 60 minutes away from the Playoff. With a loss, I do think the Irish are out. Cuse could basically punch a ticket to the Peach Bowl with an upset in Yankee Stadium.
• No. 15 Texas vs. No. 16 Iowa State: The winner could be in pretty good shape for a Big 12 title shot and maybe even a New Year’s Six at-large bid, all depending on how things shake out. (Victorious Texas fans would be rooting for WVU to beat Oklahoma in Week 13. Iowa State fans: vice versa.)

Maybe important

Games in which the winner should have something to show for it, such as at least a win over a decent bowl team.

• No. 2 Clemson vs. Duke: An OK win for Clemson. That’s fine.
• No. 8 Washington State vs. Arizona: Zona’s a potential bowl team, but the Pac-12 North championship Apple Cup next week is what matters most.
• No. 9 West Virginia at Oklahoma State: A road win over a bowl team would be nice for WVU. More importantly, winning out would mean a spot in the Big 12 Championship, with a Sugar Bowl bid or maybe even a Playoff spot on the line there.
• No. 17 Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee: UK’s almost certainly out of the NY6 race, but a bid to a nice game like the Citrus Bowl is still up for grabs. Keep the win-loss record shiny.
• No. 19 Utah vs. Colorado: The Pac-12 South scenarios are complicated, but the wounded Utes are still the favorites.
• No. 22 Northwestern vs. Minnesota: Let’s say Ohio State beats Michigan. Ohio State’s Playoff case might not be 100 percent solid. However, a win over a top-20 Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship could get it across the line. Michigan wouldn’t really need NU to rank well, but the Big Ten should root for Northwestern this week anyway.
• Arizona State at Oregon: See Pac-12 South link above. ASU still has a chance at a title.
• Pitt at Wake Forest: Pitt would clinch the ACC Coastal with a dub.

Important for the Group of 5 race

Since the committee’s showed for years that non-power teams have a REALLY long path to the Playoff, let’s have a separate section for the race to be the top-ranked mid-major champ.

• No. 11 UCF vs. No. 24 Cincinnati: The winner takes the G5’s most loaded division and will be favored to win the AAC. If UCF wins the AAC, that’s another New Year’s Six bid clinched. If it’s Cincy, the Mountain West champ will at least join the debate.
• No. 23 Utah State at Colorado State: Just take care of business ahead of the MWC Mountain title game at Boise next week.
• No. 25 Boise State at New Mexico: Good on the committee for ranking a two-loss non-power. The Broncos aren’t out of the NY6 race yet, but they’d need some help from the AAC West champ, for starters.
• Ohio 52, Buffalo 17: The MAC’s now out of one-loss teams, FWIW.
• Houston vs. Tulane: The winner has part of the AAC West lead, but needs SMU to lose at some point.
• SMU vs. Memphis: If SMU wins out, SMU is in the AAC title game with a glorious 7-5 record. That wouldn’t be awesome news for Cincy’s potential NY6 hopes.
• UAB at Texas A&M: The #RankUAB train probably ends here (unless it extremely doesn’t, lol).

Probably not important

The committee tries not to care much about your wins over FCS teams or teams that finish with bad records, though you can get some credit for winning on the road or really laying it to folks. So for the ranked teams here: just don’t lose!

• No. 1 Alabama vs. The Citadel
• No. 4 Michigan vs. Indiana
• No. 5 Georgia vs. UMass
• No. 6 Oklahoma vs. Kansas
• No. 7 LSU vs. Rice
• No. 10 Ohio State at Maryland
• No. 13 Florida vs. Idaho
• No. 14 Penn State vs. Rutgers
• No. 18 Washington vs. Oregon State
• No. 20 Boston College at Florida State
• No. 21 Mississippi State vs. Arkansas