Are the Big 12’s College Football Playoff hopes finished?

The last remaining undefeated team in the Big 12 has gone down as No. 6 Oklahoma was toppled by Kansas in a 38-33 upset on Saturday. Jayhawk running back Devin Neal punched in the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute and the Sooners were unable to answer, falling to 7-1 on the season.

With the first batch of College Football Playoff rankings set to be released on Tuesday, one has to wonder if the Big 12’s hopes of sending a team to the dance went up in smoke with Oklahoma’s loss on Saturday.

The Big 12’s playoff hopes rest on the shoulders of Oklahoma and Texas and neither of those teams will be ranked any higher than No. 6 when the CFP committee releases its first batch of rankings. To make the playoffs, either team would have to win out from this point forward and pray for chaos at the top of the standings. Florida State tripping up once would help their cause, as well as either Washington or Oregon being cannibalized by a tough Pac-12 slate. We know that Michigan and Ohio State will take care of themselves with the two powers playing each other at the end of the year, but a Wolverines loss to Penn State would help UT or OU tremendously.

While it’s too early to start writing the obituary, it’s not looking good for the league. They need Oklahoma and Texas to get to the Big 12 title game unscathed in December, or their playoff hopes will be officially over.