This was the moment for No. 6 Oregon. Down 16-15 to No. 20 Iowa with 1:51 remaining, the Ducks drove 54 yards in 10 plays and made a 39-yard field goal with three seconds left to notch a must-have win against a ranked opponent.
This is the result the College Football Playoff selection committee was waiting for. In explaining why the committee had the Ducks No. 9 in last week’s debut rankings, chair Mack Rhoades expressed reservations about their résumé, which before Saturday featured just one victory against an opponent with a winning record.
While there’s still more work to be done and opportunities to further impress the committee against Minnesota, No. 21 Southern California, and Washington, the win in Iowa City helps bring the Ducks’ résumé more in line with their reputation as one of the best teams in the Power Four. Looking ahead to Tuesday night’s rankings, Oregon is assured of climbing at least one spot and inching closer to an at-large berth.
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### Winners
**Texas A&M**
No. 3 Texas A&M turned a fumble recovery into a touchdown late in the first half and pulled away coming out of the break for a 38-17 win at No. 22 Missouri, the team’s third road win this season against an opponent in the Top 25.
After some diminishing returns in a shootout win against Arkansas and over the first two quarters against LSU, the A&M defense carried over the ferocious close in Baton Rouge to hold Missouri to just 284 yards and harassed freshman quarterback Matt Zollers into just 77 passing yards on 3.5 yards per attempt.
The only unbeaten team in the SEC, the Aggies’ convincing win might trigger a debate over which team lands at No. 2 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll and Tuesday’s playoff rankings.
**Texas Tech**
No. 8 Texas Tech’s 29-7 win against No. 7 Brigham Young confirms the Red Raiders’ place as the unquestioned team to beat in the Big 12. With games against Central Florida and West Virginia left to end November and head-to-head tiebreakers against BYU and Houston in hand, Tech steps into the driver’s seat for the conference championship game.
The Red Raiders are looking to make some history, as the program hasn’t won an outright league crown since taking the defunct Border Conference in 1955. The team was plus-three in turnover margin, dominated the line of scrimmage, and held BYU to only 3.9 yards per play—highlighting the program’s immense edge in talent compared to the rest of the conference.
**Indiana**
Fernando Mendoza tossed a touchdown pass with 36 seconds left, and No. 2 Indiana escaped Penn State with a 27-24 win, essentially locking down an appearance in the Big Ten championship game.
This marks the Hoosiers’ second single-digit win of the year, joining an earlier win against the Ducks, and comes on the heels of wins against Maryland and UCLA by a combined 95 points.
Don’t read too much into the late comeback and narrower-than-expected win: Indiana might be a powerhouse that’s simply inarguable at this point, but even powerhouse teams need to get lucky once or twice to post an unbeaten regular season in the current landscape of college football.
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### Losers
**Brigham Young**
It was a bad but not fatal loss, docking BYU a chunk of national credibility but still leaving the Cougars in range of a rematch with wins against TCU, Cincinnati, and UCF. The nature of the loss raises eyebrows, though, while also raising concerns about the Cougars’ quarterback play and run defense.
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier averaged a season-low 4.9 yards per pass and tossed his fourth interception of the season while running for just 12 yards, his fewest in a conference game. BYU allowed 149 yards on the ground and is giving up 175.2 yards per game in league play.
TCU will force the Cougars’ passing game to keep pace, while Cincinnati is averaging just under 200 rushing yards per game; both games will stress and strain BYU.
**Iowa**
The Hawkeyes might not be the most accomplished three-loss team in the country—those six wins are really nothing to write home about—but the three defeats show how close this team is to perfection.
Iowa’s losses to Iowa State, Indiana, and the Ducks have come by a combined 10 points. The Cyclones drilled a 54-yard field goal with under two minutes left to win 16-13, and the Hoosiers trailed 13-10 in the fourth quarter before pulling out a 20-15 win in the final two minutes.
**Colorado**
The bottom has dropped out in Deion Sanders’ third season, with Colorado falling toward the bottom of the Big 12 ladder and ceding much of the goodwill from last year’s breakthrough.
(To little surprise, the Buffaloes have struggled to replace the most prolific passer and one of the best pound-for-pound players in program history.) But this is a brand-new low: Colorado was plus-two in takeaways and drew a nice game from freshman quarterback Julian Lewis but fell behind early and lost 29-22 to West Virginia, which has taken two in a row under new coach Rich Rodriguez.
While more competitive than blowouts against Utah and Arizona, the loss eliminates the Buffaloes from bowl contention.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2025/11/08/college-football-winners-losers-week-11/87174449007/