Coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes still have a narrow path to get into the Big 12 Conference championship game after dropping into a four-way tie for first place with BYU, Arizona State and Iowa State.

There are two clear ways for them to get in with one game left in the regular season, as confirmed by the Big 12 on Sunday according to league tiebreaker rules.

First the Buffs (8-3) need to beat Oklahoma State (3-8) at home in their regular-season football finale on Friday at noon ET.

∎ Then they need at least two of those other three first-place teams to lose on Saturday, thereby leaving the Buffs alone or in a two-way tie atop the standings with a 7-2 league record.

∎ Or they just need BYU to lose to Houston and Texas Tech to beat West Virginia. Even if the Buffs end up in a three-way tie for first place in this scenario, this combination would favor them under league tiebreaker rules.

If one of those scenarios happens, the Buffs will play for the Big 12 title Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas, despite suffering a damaging 37-21 loss Saturday against Kansas. If neither of those scenarios happens, the Buffs will instead next play in a non-playoff bowl game such as the Holiday or Alamo Bowl on Dec. 27 or 28.

What if all four first-place Big 12 teams win?

If all four teams win next weekend, Arizona State will play Iowa State for the league title.  Because Colorado has not played those other four first-place teams, the tiebreaker gets complicated and involves records against common conference opponents.

The four first-place teams have four common Big 12 opponents: Kansas, Kansas State, Utah and Central Florida. Arizona State is 4-0 against those teams. BYU is 3-1. Colorado is 2-2. Iowa State is 2-1 and hosts Kansas State next week.

BYU hosts Houston and Arizona State plays at Arizona on Saturday. All four first-place teams have 6-2 records in league play.

What if three teams tie for first place?

The Big 12 spelled it out like this, according to which of the four first-place teams loses and leaves a three-way tie for first place.

∎ If Colorado loses vs. Oklahoma State and the other three teams win, it would be Arizona State vs. Iowa State in the league title game

∎ If Arizona State loses but the others win, it would be Iowa State vs. BYU playing for the championship.

∎ If Iowa State loses but the others win, it would be Arizona State vs. BYU.

∎ If BYU loses but the other three win, it gets even more complicated under league tiebreaker rules and involves records against the next highest placed common opponents in the league standings.

If BYU loses and the other three win, Colorado needs Texas Tech to beat West Virginia in the regular-season finale. That’s because Arizona State and Iowa State both lost to Tech while Colorado beat Tech this season.

Colorado would play in the Big 12 title game in that scenario against either Arizona State or Iowa State, depending on the results of other Big 12 games Saturday. If Baylor beats Kansas and Cincinnati beats TCU, Colorado’s opponent in this case would be Iowa State. If not, it would be Arizona State.

But if West Virginia beats Tech in that scenario, Colorado is out and Arizona State would play Iowa State for the league title.

What about the five teams tied for second place?

Five teams are tied for second place in the league standings with 5-3 league records: Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, West Virginia and Kansas State.

The league said they must win and see at least three of the four 6-2 teams take a loss.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

There’s nothing SEC commissioner Greg Sankey can tweet that will put lipstick on a disastrous day for his conference’s quest to stack the CFP bracket.
As Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas A&M go down, Indiana wins by not losing twice in one day.
A crazed Kenny Dillingham becomes lasting image of this wacky college football season.

Greg Sankey’s X account went silent Saturday.

Nothing the SEC’s commissioner could tweet would erase the sting of a disastrous day in his conference’s quest to stack the College Football Playoff.

Just days ago, Sankey took to Elon Musk’s social media platform to stump for SEC teams’ playoff bona fides, posting a graphic that showed strength of schedule metrics favoring teams from Sankey’s conference.

By Sunday morning, Sankey’s propaganda campaign had withered. His most recent X activity shows a repost of a soccer score, because, why would Sankey post about the expanded conference he orchestrated cannibalizing itself on the football field?

Saturday began with six SEC teams in playoff contention.

By the end of another savage day in this feral season, three of those contenders had suffered a crippling third loss.

What seemed far-fetched a week ago – three bids for the ACC?!? – is now in play, because Florida, Oklahoma and Auburn wouldn’t roll over for Mississippi, Alabama and Texas A&M.

Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss Rebels puckered up tightly in The Swamp as their playoff hopes burst under Billy Napier’s thumb. So, yeah, I guess Florida isn’t hiring Kiffin. Maybe, Ole Miss should hire Napier. Just kidding.

There’s no kidding about how the Rebels blew their season. They went 0 for 3 on red-zone opportunities against Florida. After Ole Miss went for broke on the offseason player-buying circuit, Mark Stoops and Napier spoiled Kiffin’s dream season. That’s gotta hurt.

The only silver lining for Kiffin is that Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer elbowed him out of the way for the day’s most embarrassing defeat. Send for DeBoer’s offensive guru card. Membership revoked after Alabama mustered three measly points in a loss at woebegone Oklahoma. The Sooners hadn’t beaten a Bowl Subdivision team in nearly two months until Alabama arrived in town.

Your turn, Texas A&M. In losing to Auburn in four overtimes, the Aggies somehow found a way to allow Auburn to score 43 points – the same Auburn that mustered seven points against Vanderbilt and leads the conference in turnovers.

The morals of this story?

First, you should never, ever tweet.

Second, it pays to play cupcakes in November.

Tennessee and Clemson became Saturday’s big winners by feasting on opponents that showed up to collect a paycheck.

The Vols blasted UTEP. By virtue of SEC teams around them crumbling, they could zoom from being the first team out of the CFP bracket last Tuesday all the way into position to host a first-round playoff game.

Clemson dunked on The Citadel. When Dabo Swinney stumped for his team’s playoff résumé a week ago, it came off as a halfhearted pitch I’m not convinced even Swinney believed.

Now, if Clemson beats South Carolina next weekend, the Tigers could become the first team in history to qualify for the CFP despite losing at home to Louisville.

Parity finally arrived in college football. It’s an all-consuming monster that even managed to muzzle college athletics’ most powerful figure.

Here’s what else I’m mulling in this ‘Topp Rope’ view of college football:

12-team CFP bracket gives us a beautiful mess

Much of this playoff drama would have been irrelevant if we still had a four-team playoff.

Ole Miss would have been eliminated long ago, and we’d be left to debate whether the ACC’s champion or Notre Dame deserved the final spot in a playoff quartet including Oregon, Ohio State and the SEC’s champion.

Without this expanded playoff, we’d have less motivation to tune in while a manic, wide-eyed Kenny Dillingham cussed out officials for appropriately applying clock-stoppage rules that punished Dillingham’s coaching malpractice. Arizona State won anyway, despite Dillingham’s best attempts to throw away the victory.

Sure, this bigger playoff format invites flawed and fraudulent teams into the field, and it’s becoming a messy contest of who can survive mediocre opponents, but as a crazed Dillingham shouted profanities while officials viewed a replay, with Arizona State fans on the field celebrating a game that hadn’t finished, how could we not be entertained?

Indiana wins by not losing twice in one day

Indiana Hoosiers, you can exhale, because the Gators and Sooners had your back.

‘The answer is so obvious,’ Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said, before winking and nodding, when asked whether Indiana should still be considered a playoff team after its 38-15 loss at No. 2 Ohio State.

What’s obvious is we must rewire our brains as to what we think a playoff team looks like, because, yeah, a team that’s 23 points worse than Ohio State probably remains a playoff team.

Three and out

1. If Boise State reaches the finish line with a 12-1 record and a Mountain West title, the Broncos could seize the CFP’s No. 4 seed and a playoff bye. Consider, the committee’s options for the final bye will either be a Big 12 champion with at least two losses or a Group of Five champion. The Broncos’ only loss came by three points at Oregon, so why shouldn’t Boise State snatch that bye? Imagine the look on Dillingham’s face if he’s informed that the Mountain West champion received a bye and the Big 12 champion is headed to Columbus, Ohio, for Round 1.

2. I predict the top 12 of Tuesday’s CFP rankings: 1. Oregon, 2. Ohio State, 3. Texas, 4. Penn State, 5. Notre Dame, 6. Miami, 7. Georgia, 8. Tennessee, 9. SMU, 10. Indiana, 11. Boise State, 12. Arizona State. First team out: Clemson.

3. My latest ‘Topp Rope’ playoff projection: Oregon (Big Ten), Georgia (SEC), SMU (ACC), Brigham Young (Big 12), Boise State (Group of Five), plus at-large selections Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Miami. Next up: Clemson.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. The ‘Topp Rope’ is his football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

The Las Vegas Raiders were attempting to complete a late comeback against the Denver Broncos when starting quarterback Gardner Minshew exited the game with an injury.

Minshew was hurt after being sacked on a first-and-10 play with just a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. The veteran quarterback was attempting to scramble away from pressure when he was wrapped up by the Broncos’ Cody Barton and Jonathon Cooper.

Barton came down hard on Minshew, who had his left shoulder driven into the ground. He remained down after the play and was in pain as Raiders medical staffers tended to him.

Here’s what to know about Minshew’s injury:

Gardner Minshew suffers season-ending injury

Minshew suffered a broken collarbone in the Raiders’ 29-19 Week 12 loss to the Broncos, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. The injury will sideline him for the rest of the season.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce provided a brief but bleak update on Minshew’s status during his postgame news conference.

‘It doesn’t look good,’ Pierce told reporters.

Minshew’s injury occurred when he landed with his full body weight – and that of Barton – on his left, non-throwing shoulder. He was tended to on the field after the injury occurred and appeared to be in pain.

Minshew was eventually able to get up but headed off the field and straight into the locker room. The broadcast referred to that as a ‘bad sign’ for the signal-caller.

Minshew completed 24-of-42 passes for 230 yards, a touchdown and an interception before exiting Sunday’s game.

Who is Gardner Minshew’s backup on Raiders depth chart?

Typically, Aidan O’Connell serves as Minshew’s backup. However, the second-year pro is currently on injured reserve with a thumb injury. That’s why Ridder, who the Raiders signed off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad on Oct. 21, was backing up Minshew on Sunday.

Ridder was the only quarterback the Raiders had available behind Minshew on Sunday. The team’s current third-string quarterback, Carter Bradley, is on the team’s practice squad and was not elevated for the Week 12 divisional clash. Those two seem likely to lead Las Vegas’ quarterback room into Week 13, unless O’Connell is ready to return from IR.

Gardner Minshew stats

Minshew completed 57.1% of his passes for 230 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Broncos in Week 12.

Minshew entered the game having completed 67.4% of his passes for 1,783 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions in eight starts. He posted a record of 2-6 in those contests and has now dropped to 2-7 on the season after Las Vegas’ 29-19 loss.

The upper tier of the US LBM Coaches Poll is largely unchanged from last week. The same cannot be said for the rest of the top 25 following a chaotic Week 13 slate.

Oregon, which had the weekend off, remains the unanimous No. 1 team with all 55 first-place votes. Ohio State holds at No. 2 after handing Indiana its first loss, knocking the Hoosiers down to No. 10. Texas, a winner against Kentucky, stays at No. 3 and Penn State hangs on to the fourth spot following a one-point squeaker at Minnesota.

Notre Dame is up to No. 5 after dispatching previously unbeaten Army, though the Black Knights stay in the poll at No. 22. Georgia climbs to No. 6, the highest ranked of among two-loss teams with its place in the SEC championship game secured. The ACC now has two teams in the top 10 with Miami moving up to seventh and SMU vaulting to No. 9, its highest ranking in the coaches poll since the program was reinstated in 1989.

TOP 25: Complete US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 13

UP AND DOWN: Winners and losers from Week 13 in college football

It was a rough week for the SEC as Alabama and Ole Miss fall to No. 13 and 16, respectively after surprising road losses to Oklahoma and Florida, respectively. Texas A&M also takes a five-spot plunge to No. 19, but all will be forgiven if the Aggies can take down the Longhorns in next week’s headliner that would send them to the SEC championship game.

No. 15 Arizona State is the highest ranked among the logjam of teams atop the Big 12 standings. It is the highest position for the Sun Devils since the final poll of the 2014 season. Another mover of note is South Carolina, gaining five positions to check in at No. 14 on the fringe of playoff consideration with No. 12 Clemson up next.

No. 24 Missouri and No. 25 Illinois rejoin the Top 25, replacing Colorado and Kansas State.

(This story was updated to change a video and add a gallery).

It wasn’t a great day to be a Commanders’ running back.

First, it was Brian Robinson Jr. who exited with an ankle injury early in the game, but he later returned. Then it was Austin Ekeler, who appeared to be knocked out at the conclusion of a wild 60 minutes.

The Week 12 game against the Cowboys featured lead changes, special teams mayhem and some near-magic for the Commanders. While the comeback effort fell short, dropping Washington to 7-4 on the season, the concern now shifts to Ekeler.

Here is the latest on the Commanders’ veteran running back.

Austin Ekeler injury update

LANDOVER, Md. — Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler was taken to the hospital after suffering a concussion late in Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ a team spokesman said.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Ekeler suffered the injury on the final kick return of the afternoon with the Commanders trailing by eight points and less than 10 seconds on the clock. A pair of Cowboys sandwiched him on the tackle and the 29-year-old’s helmet hit the ground with force. He remained on the ground for a few minutes. Players from both teams took knees as Washington’s training staff tended to him.

Ekeler walked off the field and to the locker room but with significant help from the trainers.

Ekeler rushed for 22 yards on 9 carries against Dallas and caught two passes for two yards.

The eight-year veteran is in his first season with the Commanders and spent the first seven with the Los Angeles Chargers. He has four rushing touchdowns this season and entered Sunday with 667 combined rushing and receiving yards.

Commanders RB depth chart

Brian Robinson Jr.
Jeremy McNichols

If Ekeler is forced to miss time, Washington will be down to just two running backs. Robinson Jr. would remain the starting back, but McNichols would likely see more work.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins may be peaking at the right time.

Just in time to make the Thanksgiving night game entertaining later this week.

Tagovailoa threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first half, and the Dolphins beat the New England Patriots 34-15 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

After beginning this season losing 6 of 8 games, Miami is riding a three-game winning streak. The Dolphins are now 5-6 and staring down .500, heading into their primetime Thanksgiving Day matchup at the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.

Can Tagovailoa and the Dolphins win a cold-weather game? The Hawaiian native surely has that knock again him during his five-year career. And the temperature could be in the teens by primetime.

All things Dolphins: Latest Miami Dolphins news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Can the Dolphins beat a team with a winning record? They were close against the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals, losing by three points or less, before they rattled off this recent win streak.

The Dolphins are 2-14 in their last 16 games against opponents with a .500 record or better. The Packers were 7-3 in this season ahead of Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

“I’m excited to kill narratives, so let’s go,” Tagovailoa said after the game. “Bring it on.”

The Detroit Lions will do the heavy lifting against Chicago Bears in the 12:30 p.m. game. The tryptophan from Thanksgiving lunch should settle in by time the lowly New York Giants and just-as-lowly Dallas Cowboys kick off at 4:30 p.m. But, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins bring enough intrigue against the Packers to save the NFL’s holiday tripleheader from an entertainment standpoint.

“Our record now is 5-6, and the Packers aren’t going to care about our three-game win streak,” McDaniel said. “The Packers are going to want to make us the team that can’t win in the cold or beat a good team. And we’ll have an opportunity on Thursday to either prove them right or wrong, as well as everybody else, in front of a bunch of families that are digesting and judgmental.”

Could Miami upset Green Bay on Thursday? They’ll need to capitalize on what’s made them successful in their recent streak if they hope to make the playoffs in the final six weeks of the season.

Tagovailoa finished 29 of 40 for 317 yards against New England, improving to 7-0 all-time against his AFC East rivals from Foxborough.

Tagovailoa is 82 of 105 (78%) with eight touchdown passes in his last three games during Miami’s winning streak. The Dolphins have converted 18 of their 34 third-down attempts (52.9%) in the last three games – before Tagovailoa was pulled with 11:01 left in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Tagovailoa threw his first touchdown pass to tight end Jonnu Smith, and his second of two touchdowns to running back De’Von Achane on third down against the Patriots.

“We’re still below the .500 threshold and it’s a long way to where we want to get to,” Tagovailoa said. “We’ll enjoy this win, but this next one is going to be big for us.”

McDaniel has also identified a third receiving target to open the passing game. Teams are focusing on Dolphins receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, leaving windows open for others.

It’s become Smith, the former Titans tight end who has three touchdowns in the last two weeks. At times, it’s also Odell Beckham Jr., who draws the attention of secondary defenders despite missing all three of his targets against the Patriots.

Smith finished with nine catches for 87 yards against the Patriots, one week after he had six catches for 101 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders.

His performance Sunday opened the window for Waddle’s best game of the season with eight catches for 144 yards and a touchdown against New England. Achane had 56 total yards, and two touchdown catches in the victory. Hill finished with five catches for 48 yards.

“When you have a lot of playmakers on the team, it’s hard to stop us,” Achane said.

Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to tight end Austin Hooper, and New England’s Christian Gonzalez returned a fumble 63 yards for another score within a 3:33 stretch early in the fourth quarter.

The Dolphins did their work early in this one. Now, they have three days of rest before their holiday game this week.

“We have a tough task ahead of us. Short week, on the road, night game, cold weather. All that stuff is really going to test our mental toughness,” Dolphins edge rusher Calais Campbell said. “We’re going to see what kind of team we are.”

Added Tagovailoa: “We’re excited to go down to Green Bay and show everybody on primetime what we can do.”

(This story has been updated with quotes and additional details.)

After turning to Tommy DeVito as his starting quarterback following Daniel Jones’ benching and eventual release over the past week, New York Giants coach Brian Daboll said he was counting on the second-year passer to recreate the ‘spark’ he ignited last season in his memorable rookie run.

On Sunday, however, it was more of the same for the NFL’s lowest-scoring offense and a franchise now tied for the league’s worst record at 2-9.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers rolled to a 30-7 win over the Giants as DeVito threw for just 189 yards and took four sacks. After the game, multiple Giants standouts vented their frustration with the organization.

‘It ain’t the quarterback,’ said rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who led the Giants with six catches for 64 yards. ‘Same outcome when we had DJ at quarterback.

‘I don’t know what it is,’ Nabers added when asked to identify the team’s problem. ‘Everybody know better than me. … I know I’m tired of losing.’

All things Giants: Latest New York Giants news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Nabers also described the team’s performance as ‘soft as (expletive).’ Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence also ridiculed New York’s toughness on the day.

“We played soft, and they beat the (expletive) out of us today,” Lawrence told reporters after the game.

The Buccaneers scored on five of their first six possessions to race out to a 30-0 lead over the Giants by the early third quarter. Four different players scored a rushing touchdown for Tampa Bay, while 11 recorded a reception. Devin Singletary’s 1-yard score in the fourth quarter prevented New York from being shut out.

Jones was officially waived by the Giants on Saturday in what co-owner Steve Mara called a ‘mutual’ decision. The sixth-year starter sought a separation after he was demoted and later buried on the depth chart behind DeVito, Drew Lock and Tim Boyle.

But with DeVito in the lineup, the Giants were sent to their sixth straight loss as the Buccaneers ended their own four-game skid.

Frustration with the offensive game plan seemed to boil over for Nabers, who wasn’t targeted until the start of the third quarter.

‘I mean, can’t do nothing,’ Nabers said. ‘Start getting the ball when it’s 30-0. What do you want me to do?”

Asked why he wasn’t getting the ball earlier, Nabers turned the question back to his head coach.

“Talk to (Daboll) about that,” Nabers said. “They come up to me and ask me what plays I want, and that was that.’

The Chicago Bears had to settle for silver on Sunday, but safety Jonathan Owens deserved gold.

Owens, who is married to Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, forced a fumble in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12.

The Bears’ safety stripped the ball away from Vikings running back Aaron Jones on the Chicago 2-yard line, preventing what otherwise would have been a prime scoring opportunity for Minnesota. To celebrate his big play, he struck a gymnastics-inspired ending pose, raising both hands to the sky.

Despite Owens’ efforts in the play and throughout the game – he finished with eight tackles, fourth-most on the Bears on Sunday – the Vikings defeated the Bears in overtime, 30-27.

Owens and the Bears will take on the Detroit Lions to begin the three-game slate on Thanksgiving in Week 13.

All things Bears: Latest Chicago Bears news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Biles, meanwhile, is joining ‘The Voice’ as a playoff advisor.

NBC announced that the Olympic gold medalist, who is the most decorated gymnast in history, would appear on the network’s flagship singing competition as an advisor for Team Snoop after the rap legend Snoop Dogg recruited her for the position.

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