Ohio State and Indiana are undefeated and on a collision course toward the Big Ten Championship Game. Both seem like locks for the College Football Playoff, as well.

Oregon is very much is the mix as well, at 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten play. Michigan and USC are hanging around as well, both at 8-2 with one loss in league play. They have nonconference losses to No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Notre Dame, respectively, which certainly aren't embarrassing in any way.

Both still have major resume-builders on their schedule, too. Michigan has its annual showdown with Ohio State on Nov. 29, and Oregon is in the spotlight this Saturday when it hosts USC in Eugene. ESPN's College Gameday will be there for the second time this season. The Ducks also hosted the network earlier this year when they played Indiana, the only team to beat them all year.

For USC, it's a golden opportunity to contend for a playoff spot if they can upset the Ducks. Win Saturday and then close out the regular season with a win over UCLA, and they'd be 10-2. 

That just might be enough.

There would certainly be plenty of debate when comparing the Trojans' resume to all the other two-loss teams across the country, but they do look good.

“The road ahead for the Trojans, it feels really straightforward. It doesn’t mean it feels easy, but it’s straightforward,'' Big Ten Network's Dave Revsine said Tuesday. "I don’t think there’s any doubt they would get in, even though we could have a glut of 10-win teams.

"Is it clear cut? Maybe not, but their resume is clear cut. They have Oregon and UCLA to finish, and you win out thern you’re 10-2 with wins over Michigan, Iowa, and then the Ducks.''

USC was No. 17 in last Tuesday's College Football Playoff rankings, and it will be interesting to see how far they move up after beating a good Iowa team 26-21 in Los Angeles. They were No. 16 in Sunday's Associated Press poll.

There are only 12 playoff spots, and the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 champions all get a spot. Let's say that's Ohio State, Texas A&M, Miami and Texas Tech. The fifth conference champion is assured a spot as well, regardless of ranking, and that looks like James Madison for the moment, though all those Group of 5 teams keep shooting themselves in the foot.

That leaves seven at-large spots, and the SEC will probably grab four of those — with Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss and Oklahoma getting bids.

It would help USC's case a lot if Miami wins the ACC, eliminating the rest of the league, but it seems unlikely they can get into the ACC Championship Game at the moment with four teams still ahead of them with one league loss. 

Same with Texas Tech, because they would eliminate the rest of the Big 12, too. 

The Indiana-Ohio State loser is in for sure, so that leaves two spots for Miami, Oregon, USC, Notre Dame and maybe even BYU, who still has just one loss.

USC's path isn't easy, but finish 10-2 and they'd at least be in the conversation.

“They’ve put themselves in position. This is going to be a great game this weekend, with two great offenses,'' Big Ten Network's Howard Griffith said of the USC-Oregon matchup, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. "You can only go out and still play the games that are left on the schedule. Control the controllables, and the first one is playing a really good football team this week, and it can set you up.

"What happens when the committee looks at it, it’s a totally different situation. It would be hard to leave them off. This is easier said than done, but when I look at that resume, I don’t know how you can leave them off.’’

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with Oregon if USC does upset them this week. They'd be in that 10-2 mix, too, but they don't really have many great wins. At Iowa was good, but I think everyone on the selection committee saw they won it on a last-second field goal. No one else that they've beaten has a winning record this year.

it's a longshot, but a shot all the same.

Tom Brew's playoff projection

Here's how my bracket plays out, not today but on Dec. 7. It presumes some conference champions, with Ohio State beating Indiana, Texas A&M beating Alabama, Texas Tech beating BYU and Georgia Tech beating Virginia.

No. 1 seed — Ohio State (13-0, Big Ten champion)
No. 2 seed — Texas A&M (13-0, SEC champion)
No. 3 seed — Indiana (12-1, Big Ten at-large)
No. 4 seed — Georgia (11-1, SEC at-large)

No. 5 seed — Ole Miss (11-1, SEC at-large)
No. 6 seed — Texas Tech (12-1, Big 12 champion)
No. 7 seed — Oregon (11-1, Big Ten at-large)
No. 8 seed — Oklahoma (10-2, SEC at-large)

No. 9 seed— Georgia Tech (12-1, ACC champion)
No. 10 seed — Alabama (10-3, SEC at-large)
No. 11 seed — Notre Dame (10-2, at-large)
No. 12 seed — James Madison (Sun Belt champion)

You'll notice I don't have Miami in my bracket. But the Hurricanes are going to finish third at best in the ACC and has losses to unranked Louisville and SMU. Sure, they beat Notre Dame head-to-head in Week 1, but the bad defeats to three-loss teams have to count, too. They need to be punished for that.

Let me know how you think this season is going to play out in the comments.