Several college football programs saw their playoff hopes nosedive on a wild Saturday in which four of the nation’s nine undefeated teams went down. But the most painful setback wasn’t confined to a single team, but an entire conference.

Losses by Baylor and West Virginia may have torpedoed the Big 12’s chances of sending a team to the College Football Playoff. In a down year for the conference, the Bears’ and Mountaineers’ weak schedules means they likely won’t have resumes as strong as other one-loss teams. Baylor lost 35-34 against struggling Texas while Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen saw his team go down 37-20 to Oklahoma State.

Nebraska also suffered its first loss with a 23-17 overtime defeat against Wisconsin, but could reassert itself by upsetting Ohio State this week. Boise State’s first loss, meanwhile, leaves Western Michigan as the only non-power conference team without a loss so far. Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8