The teams most likely to affect OU in the playoff:
Oklahoma (4-0)
Best win: At West Virginia last Saturday.
What's next: Off-week this Saturday and then at TCU on Oct. 4.
Trending: Upward. A road win, convincing, too, is always good to add to your list of accomplishment. OU has a quality road win and a victory against an SEC team. That's a start.
Chances of making the playoff: Excellent. If OU goes unbeaten there's no chance the Sooners will miss out. If OU loses a game, well, we may need to have a discussion.
In or out if the playoff started today: In. Seed No. 4
Alabama (4-0)
Best win: Beat West Virginia in the season opener.
What's next: Off-week this Saturday. At Ole Miss on Oct. 4.
Trending: Upward. Alabama got behind early and rallied late against Florida last Saturday.
How Bama affects Oklahoma: OU and Bama are going to be close at the end of the season. The Sooners likely need the Tide to lose a game and that could happen on Oct. 4 at Ole Miss.
Chances of making the playoff over Oklahoma: Good to very good. The Crimson Tide just have more opportunities to impress this season than OU does. Bama still has a lot of marquee games left.
In or out if the playoff started today: Out. But they'll be in with a victory over Ole Miss.
Auburn (3-0)
Best win: At Kansas State last Thursday.
What's next: Home against Louisiana Tech.
Trending: Way up. A Thursday night win, on the road, against a Top 25 team is impressive.
How Auburn affects Oklahoma: Continual comparisons will be made as the season goes on. Not only will both teams have played Kansas State, but both will have also faced Louisiana Tech.
Chances of making the playoff over Oklahoma: Really good. Really, really good. If there's one spot for either Auburn and OU and the teams have the same number of losses this season, Auburn would get the advantage. After all, it has already beaten K-State on the road. OU needs Auburn to lose a few games so that comparison won't be viable at the end of the season.
In or out if the playoff started today: In. No. 3 seed.
Florida State (3-0)
Best win: Saturday vs. Clemson. It happened with a back-up quarterback and a fourth-quarter rally to win in overtime.
What's next: FSU is at North Carolina State
Trending: Downward. FSU has looked disinterested and apathetic so far this season. Count on the Seminoles being better next week at North Carolina State with Jameis Winston back at quarterback.
How FSU affects Oklahoma: Unlikely the two would be compared against each other, but if they were at this point, things would be about even. Each has quality wins. Each has a similar strength of schedule. FSU will face Notre Dame and Florida. OU still has big games left against Baylor and Kansas State.
Chances of making the playoff: Really good. Who's going to beat them? North Carolina State?
In or out if the playoff started today: In. No. 1 seed.
Oregon (4-0)
Best win: Michigan State.
What's next:Home against Arizona on Oct. 2.
Trending: Even. The Ducks got a road win last week against Washington State, but it wasn't easy. They were the better team, but didn't look like it for much of the game.
How Oregon affects Oklahoma: Oregon will have to earn it the rest of the way and a loss would help the Sooners. Oregon has some notable games approaching with unbeaten Arizona and then at unbeaten UCLA on Oct. 11.
Chances of making the playoff over Oklahoma: It's a toss-up at this point, although Oregon has the better win of the two schools, beating a really good Michigan State team. Based on what's happened so far this season the committee would like Oregon better.
In or out if the playoff started today: In. No. 2 seed.
Texas A&M (4-0)
Best win: At South Carolina in Week 1.
What's next: Home against Arkansas on Saturday.
Trending: Upward. A&M, along with USC has the best road win of the season, beating South Carolina in the opening week of the year.
How the Aggies will affect Oklahoma: Just another SEC team to pair up against the Sooners. A&M will have played a really good SEC schedule, but its non-conference schedule is weak, having beating Lamar, Rice and SMU.
Chances of making the playoff over Oklahoma: It's close. OU gets the edge in the non-conference, but if the teams have the same number of losses at the end of the season, A&M will likely get the edge, because they will have played five ranked teams in the conference. If the season ended today and it was a comparison with OU, the Sooners would be in ahead of the Aggies.
In or out if the playoff started today: Out. But not by much.
Others to watch heading into week 5: Notre Dame (3-0) ... The Irish were off last week, but this is a team to watch. Check their schedule. If they get through it with one or fewer losses, this team is getting into the playoff ... Baylor (3-0) has three blowout wins. Now the Bears head on the road to Iowa State and Texas the next two weeks ... Michigan State (2-1) begins the slow climb Saturday at home against Wyoming. The Spartans lost at Oregon, but could easily go unbeaten the rest of the way. ... LSU (3-1 ) will have plenty of chances to redeem itself, but after losing to Mississippi State, there's not a lot of room for error ... Georgia (2-1) lost to South Carolina, but the Bulldogs have a manageable SEC schedule the rest of the way with road games at Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky. Those are winnable. Don't be surprised if Georgia is perfect the rest of the way ... Stanford (2-1) lost at USC and that's looking worse, but the Cardinal have chances to improve. They have a brutal schedule with road games left against ranked teams in Notre Dame, Arizona State, Oregon and UCLA ... Ole Miss (3-0) gets Alabama in two weeks. Welcome to the party, Rebels. You're in the mix with a win ... UCLA (3-0) has not been impressive so far, but the Bruins are on watch this week at Arizona State and Oregon in the next three weeks ... South Carolina (3-1) ... is not different from a handful of other SEC teams â still alive, but a limited amount of wiggle room. South Carolina has a quality win and a big loss and still has a lot of big games left ... Mississippi State (4-0) has one of the best road wins of the season, taking down LSU in Baton Rouge on Saturday. That win puts them in the conversation ... Wisconsin (2-1) will need some help, but the Badgers could be 11-1 when the season ends. They don't have Michigan State on the schedule and don't have a tough road game left. Wisconsin will have a good record, but it won't be very flashy ... BYU (4-0) has played a nice schedule with wins against Texas and Virginia. We won't hear from the Cougars the rest of the season. They go to Boise State on Oct. 24, but past that, it's not a good schedule.
Last week's top-four: 1. FSU, 2. Oregon, 3. Texas &M, 4. Oklahoma
No longer looking at: Kansas State (2-1).
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
