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statecollege.com Matt Linder The Thanksgiving weekend served up more than turkey, stuffing and apple pie.  There were two key upsets in college football with differing implications for the playoff selection committee. The Associated Press Let’s start with Friday’s upset of the #2 ranked Miami Hurricanes by the Pittsburg Panthers.  Coming into the game, this did not look like a competitive matchup.  Pitt was 4-7 and The U was undefeated.  However, feeding off of their home crowd, the Panthers came away with a 24-14 victory.  So how does this loss affect the Hurricanes playoff chances?  In reality, it does not have much of an impact as the loss did not push the U out of the ACC Championship game.  As long as Miami beats #1 Clemson in the conference title game, they will replace Clemson in the top four and certainly get a chance to compete for a national title.  If the Hurricanes lose, Clemson will likely hold ...

statecollege.com Matt Linder As the college football season begins to wind down, the playoff uncertainty ratchets up.  Even after ten games, the four playoff spots are wide open, without any true favorites emerging from the pack.  It has been an exciting year, but not because of wild upsets and Cinderella teams.  This season’s suspense lies in its unpredictability; even with only two games remaining, there are no locks to make the playoff.  The field is extremely crowded, without much separation between the #1 and the #8 team.  All of the top eight teams in the country are “blue blood” traditional powerhouses.  This year, the importance of every week is magnified because there are so many quality teams with extremely similar resumes.  Lose again and you may have squandered the chance to compete for a national championship.  Let’s take a look at the teams in the hunt for the playoff and what each of them has to do in order to be one of the l...