College football’s Rivalry Week stakes, plus the perfect Playoff and Armageddon scenarios

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Happy Turkey week! Until Saturday won’t send Thursday or Friday, so let’s set up your weekend viewing schedule today.

New CFP Rankings

A change at No. 4

We have our first new team in the top four after last night’s College Football Playoff rankings release :

As expected, Washington moved to No. 4 with another ranked win (against Oregon State ) on its resume. As for the next two teams ...

With the last week of the regular season upon us, we could see more rankings drama soon. Here’s a primer for your Thanksgiving week of college football viewing.

Mandel’s Mailbag

What’s the perfect Playoff scenario, and what’s the most Armageddon scenario? — Jeff H.

The perfect scenario would be four 13-0 teams, something I never, ever would have deemed possible. Presumably, it would be No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Florida State in the Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Washington in the Rose Bowl. The latter would mark a perfect ending to the 77-year-old Big Ten-Pac-12 marriage.

Armageddon begins with Alabama beating Georgia. Oregon loses to Oregon State, but, after Arizona State upsets Arizona , still reaches the Pac-12 title game, where it knocks off Washington. Iowa somehow upsets the Ohio State-Michigan winner (I assume by a 2-0 score), which for these purposes, we’ll say is Michigan. Texas loses to Texas Tech but still makes the Big 12 title game and beats whoever emerges from all those tiebreakers. Florida State loses to Florida and then again to 11-1 Louisville in the ACC title game.

I assume 12-1 SEC champ Alabama and 12-1 Georgia both get in. Louisville, as the only remaining 12-1 champ, gets the third spot. That leaves six contenders for the final berth: 12-1 non-champ Michigan, 12-1 non-champ Washington, 11-1 non-champ Ohio State, 11-2 Pac-12 champ Oregon (which split with Washington), 11-2 Big 12 champ Texas (which beat Alabama) and 11-2 Big Ten champ Iowa (which beat Michigan).

Good luck, committee.

Read the full mailbag here.

Black Friday: Yay or Nay?

What’s at stake in each matchup

The action begins Thanksgiving night with Ole Miss at Mississippi State (7:30 p.m., ESPN) followed by a fun slate of Black Friday games. Let’s rank these on a scale best fit for Black Friday deals:

Would tackle other shoppers: (10/10)

No. 16 Oregon State (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12) at No. 6 Oregon, 8:30 p.m., Fox: Oregon must beat Oregon State to control its fate for the Pac-12 Championship Game rematch and sneak into the Playoff.

Would go to the mall at midnight (8/10)

Texas Tech (6-5, 5-3 Big 12) at No. 7 Texas (10-1, 7-1), 7:30 p.m., ABC: The Longhorns will lock up a trip to the Big 12 title game with a win. But a Texas loss would start chaos among the Big 12’s tiebreakers.

Air Force (8-3, 5-2 MWC) at Boise State (6-5, 5-2), 4 p.m., FS1: One moves on to the Mountain West Championship Game (if UNLV wins as well), and the other is eliminated.

Would wait in a long line (6/10)

TCU (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) at No. 13 Oklahoma (9-2, 6-2), Noon, Fox: Oklahoma is one of three two-loss teams in Big 12 play, but its championship fate largely depends on how results shape up around the rest of the conference. TCU is fighting for bowl eligibility.

UTSA (8-3, 7-0 AAC) at No. 23 Tulane (10-1, 7-0 AAC), 3:30 p.m., ABC: The winner moves on to the AAC title game, but the loser isn’t out. If SMU loses to Navy , the door is open for a Tulane-UTSA rematch next week. The Green Wave want that NY6 bowl bid, too.

Keep the receipt (3/10)

No. 17 Iowa (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) at Nebraska (5-6, 3-5), Noon, CBS: This doesn’t matter much for the Hawkeyes , who have earned a trip to the Big Ten title game, except they want that 10th win. For Nebraska, it’s one last chance to reach bowl eligibility.

On to the next store (1/10)

These are worth watching while you recover from Thanksgiving dinner. No big deal if you snooze in the middle.