1. Extra motivationSo let me try to understand this: Florida State has won four straight over Miami, is better at every position on the field except one, and has a history of playing well in big games over the last two seasons.And the Noles are as little as a one-point favorite over the Canes in some Vegas books?Something doesnt jibe here. But leave it to the good folks at the College Football Playoff to make it all better.HAYES: | BENDER: When the CFP selection committee , the move of one-lo s Oregon ahead of unbeaten FSU did what no pre-game speech from Noles coach Jimbo Fisher could:It galvanized the most talented and most bored and indifferent team in the game and allowed them to zero in on a rivalry that has become just another game. For the first time this season, FSU feels disrespected.And as weve seen time and again with teenagers and young adults, nothing has more impact, has more lasting power, than telling them (insert name) thinks theyre not as good as they Brent Honeywell Jersey think they are. Why Oregon whose resume is no better than FSUs and includes, you know, a lo s was moved ahead of the Noles is irrelevent.All that matters is the team that still hasnt played its best game of the season; that still looks out of sync every time it steps on the field before it eventually flips the switch to win another game, now has something that every single person in the organization from the head coach to the guy washing uniforms can relateto.Thats a dangerous thing, especially Corey Dickerson Jersey when Miamis only advantage over FSU is tailback Duke Johnson. Make no mistake, Johnson is an elite runner probably the most complete in the game but one player can be taken out of a game, or at least limited.FSU will load the line of scrimmage to stop Johnson, and force the Canes to win by throwing the ball with freshman Brad Kaaya. It seems easy enough, but the Noles have been in this same situation time and again this season.The better team, the better players (by a wide margin in every game), and yet theyre still trying to close out games in the fourth quarter. This team needs one game, one moment, to reclaim that edge it had last season and start playing like the team best equipped to win it all.The one moment is Oregons rise. The one game is a rivalry theyve won seven of the last nine times, where they haven't lost in Miami in a decade.Everyone, finally, is on the same page.2. This is how we learnSo now we watch. Yep, thats what it has come to.The focus is now on another team and another game instead of the team and game in question. Why, you ask?Because the 12-member College Football Playoff selection committee has decided that, despite a head-to-head result, the team that lost is still better than the team that won because are you ready for this? the team that lost has a stronger non-conference schedule.Really.MORE: | Only this week, the CFP gets to analyze two potential semifinalists with one game: Ohio State at Minnesota. The Buckeyes, after last weeks impre sive win at Michigan State, are suddenly surging after being ignored for much of the season because of a horrible Jose Alvarado Jersey home lo s to Virginia Tech.So now the CFP can judge Ohio State this week against a solid Big Ten team and at the same time, continue to judge TCU.Thats right, TCU.Because TCU beat Minnesota in September, the Gophers can control how much better (or worse) TCUs lo s to Baylor looks. I know, its confusing. But this is what you get when you refuse to embrace the rational concept of one team beating the other.Meanwhile, in Durham, N.C., the CFP will take a long look at five-lo s Virginia Tech as it plays Duke. Why? Because if the Hokies upset the Blue Devils, that means the Buckeyes 14-point home lo s to VT in September wont look so bad.Seriously, you cant make up this stuff.3. Sorting out the SECFinally, some sanity in the big, bad SEC. After weeks of uncertainty, it all comes down to the two teams everyone thought would be there in the end, anyway.If Alabama beats No. 1 Mi si sippi State in Tuscaloosa, and Georgia beats Auburn in Athens, the two favorites to play in the SEC Championship Game will each be one game away from making it happen.Alabama would then need a win over Auburn in Tuscaloosa in two weeks, and Georgia would need a lo s by Mi souri over the next three weeks (the Tigers could lose all three: at Texas AM, at Tenne see, Arkansas).If Mi si sippi State beats Alabama, the Bulldogs need only a victory over Vanderbilt next week in Starkville to return to the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 1998.If Auburn beats Georgia, the East gets a little dicey. Even with the lo s, Georgia can still win the East if Mi souri loses two of its last three games and Florida loses to South Carolina on Saturday.If Georgia loses and Florida wins, the Gators win the East if Mi souri loses twice (one must be at Tenne see). Of course, theres always the easy way: Mi souri winning out and winning the East.But at this point, that might be the most unlikely of options.4. The Wild WestMelvin Gordon and the Badgers face Nebraska on Saturday. ( Mike Zunino Jersey Getty Images)It's almost fitting, really. Who among us could tell the difference in teams if you took the top four from the Big Ten West Division Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa changed uniforms and reshuffled?Now, get this:over the next three weeks, the two division favorites (Wisconsin and Nebraska) play the exact same schedule.First, though, it begins with Saturdays game at Wisconsin, where Nebraska Nathan Eovaldi Jersey hasnt won since 1966. And, just in case this means anything to anyone Big and Red, the last time these two played, Wisconsin hung 70 on the Huskers in the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game.MORE: Then theres the backdrop of two of the top five tailbacks in the nation Wisconsins Melvin Gordon (1,501 yards, 19 TD) and Nebraskas Ameer Abdullah (1,250, 17 TD) going head to head in an old school, run-first, throw only if you must game.Cover your eyes, people. Its wonderfully hideous.Now, back to the way this thing plays out.After this weekend, the schedule looks like this:Nebraska: vs. Minnesota, at Iowa.Wisconsin: at Iowa, vs. Minnesota.Whoever wins Saturday has e sentially a two-game lead on the other with two to play. And if Ohio State beats Minnesota to give the Gophers three league lo ses, whoever wins Saturday in Madison needs one more victory over the final two weeks of the season to win the division.5. Friend vs. friendSouth Carolina plays at Florida on Saturday and two close friends in the coaching community might be looking at each on opposite sidelines for the last time.The only question is, which coach forces the other out?Floridas Will Muschamp is in the homestretch of the improbable: winning out in SEC play in and securing his job. South Carolina's Steve Spurrier is two games from arriving at the un