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The second College Football Playoff rankings of the season have officially released. Glancing at the rankings, it's clear the committee favors one loss teams over those remaining undefeated. Why? That question remains unanswered at this point in time. However, a few November match-ups should weed out the pretenders.
Focusing in on the conference, the Big XII experienced a bit of a shake up this go around. The Oklahoma Sooners climbed into the No. 12 spot, a three spot rise from last week's rankings after another win over Iowa State. In Stillwater, the Oklahoma State Cowboys continue to find themselves on the outside looking in. Undefeated with two ranked opponents on the horizon, will the Pokes earn some recognition moving forward?
| Playoff committee ranking | S&P+ ranking | Best win, per S&P+ | Worst loss, per S&P+ | If the season ended today | |
| 1 | Clemson (9-0) | 1 | Notre Dame | Orange Bowl vs. Notre Dame"]">Orange Bowl vs. Notre Dame | |
| 2 | Alabama (8-1) | 2 | LSU | Ole Miss | Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State"]">Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State |
| 3 | Ohio State (8-0) | 4 | Penn State | Cotton Bowl vs. Alabama | |
| 4 | Notre Dame (8-1) | 6 | USC | at Clemson | Orange Bowl vs. Clemson |
| 5 | Iowa (9-0) | 20 | at Wisconsin | Rose Bowl vs. Stanford"]">Rose Bowl vs. Pac-12 | |
| 6 | Baylor (8-0) | 7 | West Virginia | Sugar Bowl vs. LSU"]">Sugar Bowl vs. SEC | |
| 7 | Stanford (8-1) | 14 | at USC | at Northwestern | New Year's bowl, perhaps Rose |
| 8 | Oklahoma State (9-0) | 16 | TCU | Fiesta or Peach | |
| 9 | LSU (7-1) | 8 | Florida | at Alabama | New Year's bowl, perhaps Sugar |
| 10 | Utah (8-1) | 24 | Michigan | at USC | New Year's bowl, perhaps Rose |
| 11 | Florida (8-1) | 9 | Ole Miss | at LSU | New Year's bowl, perhaps Sugar |
| 12 | Oklahoma (8-1) | 5 | West Virginia | Texas | |
| 13 | Michigan State (8-1) | 29 | at Michigan | at Nebraska | |
| 14 | Michigan (7-2) | 3 | BYU | Michigan State | |
| 15 | TCU (8-1) | 13 | West Virginia | at Oklahoma State | |
| 16 | Florida State (7-2) | 11 | Louisville | at Georgia Tech | |
| 17 | Mississippi State (7-2) | 22 | Louisiana Tech | at Texas A&M | |
| 18 | Northwestern (7-2) | 40 | Stanford | Iowa | |
| 19 | UCLA (7-2) | 19 | BYU | Arizona State | |
| 20 | Navy (7-1) | 17 | at Memphis | at Notre Dame | Fiesta or Peach |
| 21 | Memphis (8-1) | 39 | Ole Miss | Navy | |
| 22 | Temple (8-1) | 37 | Penn State | Notre Dame | |
| 23 | North Carolina (8-1) | 32 | Duke | vs. South Carolina | |
| 24 | Houston (9-0) | 35 | at Louisville | ||
| 25 | Wisconsin (9-2) | 26 | at Illinois | Iowa |
Taking a loss this past week, the TCU Horned Frogs dropped to No. 15 overall leaving the Baylor Bears at the top of the conference heap. Holding down the No. 6 spot, the games shall continue until "One True Champion" is crowned.