Kansas State Upsets No. 3 TCU, 31-28, To Throw College Football Playoff Into Chaos

The plot thickens.

The second top four team in the College Football Rankings in the last 24 hours has lost, damaging its chances to stay in the final four when the climactic CFP rankings come out Sunday (Noon, ESPN).

No. 3 TCU lost to No. 10 Kansas State, 31-28, in overtime on a 31-yard field goal by Ty Zenter in in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas. Late Friday night, No. 4 USC fell to No. 11 Utah, 47-24.

Kansas State stuffed a fourth-and-goal run from the 1-yard line by running back Keandre Miller on the first possession of overtime, then set up the field goal for the win.

The loss by TCU (12-1) could push No. 6 Alabama (10-2) into the fourth spot, while the loss by USC (11-2) is expected to push No. 5 Ohio State (11-1) to the third or fourth position, depending on what happens to TCU and Alabama.

TCU, though, has a much better chance of staying in the top four than USC as it only has the one loss - in overtime by three points. And the Horned Frogs have one of the better strength of schedule rankings. USC has two losses as does Alabama. And the two teams that beat Alabama - Tennessee and LSU - each suffered bad late-season losses - Tennessee to South Carolina and LSU to Texas A&M.

So, if TCU still reaches the CFP, that will prove the Big 12 title game to be somewhat meaningless, much like the SEC title game.

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No. 1 Georgia (12-0) is playing No. 14 LSU (9-3) in the SEC title game (CBS), and No. 2 Michigan plays unranked Purdue (8-4) in the Big Ten title game Saturday night (8 p.m., FOX).

TCU quarterback Max Duggan throws a pass in the first quarter of the Big 12 title game against Kansas State. (Getty Images)

Dramatic Finish In Regulation

The game went into overtime at 28-28 after TCU quarterback Max Duggan fought off exhaustion to drive the Horned Frogs 80 yards in eight plays. He cut Kansas State's lead to 28-26 on an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:51 left. Then he hit wide open tight end Jared Wiley for the two-point conversion.

Duggan finished regulation with 105 yards rushing on 14 carries. He completed 18 of 36 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown with an interception. Kansas State quarterback Will Howard completed 18 of 31 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns before the overtime.

Kansas State tailback Deuce Vaughn put the Wildcats up 28-17 with 11:27 to go in the fourth quarter on a 44-yard touchdown run. He faked safety Mark Perry out so badly on the play that Perry appeared to injure himself. Vaughn finished with 130 yards on 26 carries and caught two passes for 30 yards.