College Football Playoff Rankings, Week 12: 3 takeaways

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its third rankings of the 2017 season. Here are the three biggest takeaways from this Top 25.

After some exciting college basketball action between the Duke Blue Devils and the Michigan State Spartans, it was time for the fine folks that make up the College Football Playoff Selection Committee to reveal their latest Top 25.

While the first two weeks didn’t see any of the top-5 teams change, well, that was going to change this week, as both the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost on the road.

This week, the top four were as follows: No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, No. 2 Clemson Tigers, No. 3 Miami Hurricanes, No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners. The first two that were out were the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers and the best two-loss team in the country in the No. 6 Auburn Tigers fresh off their pummeling of Georgia.

There is a lot to digest here obviously, but we’ll try our best.

3. It’s all about The U; ESPN is really trying to make Wisconsin look good.

Even though they will only play 11 games this regular season, it all about The U. Miami is for real as the No. 3 team in the country at 9-0. While we knew that Mark Richt would get his alma mater’s football program back on track, who saw it happening this quickly? It’s been a special year in Coral Gables for the Canes. They are on a crash course to face No. 2 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

Now, for the other undefeated team that didn’t get much respect by the Selection Committee in the first two College Football Playoff rankings. Looking at you, No. 5 Wisconsin. Because of the Notre Dame loss, ESPN really needs a midwestern school like undefeated Wisconsin to get through the Big Ten unscathed. The only problem is that their wins aren’t as impressive as Clemson’s to this point.

So the Badgers beat Northwestern and Iowa. Terrific. The Michigan Wolverines will be ranked when Wisconsin plays them. Then, Wisconsin will face a two, maybe even a three-loss team in the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis. If the Selection Committee could rank a four-loss Big Ten team that Wisconsin beat at some point this season, I wouldn’t put it past them.

See, with Miami, there’s no fooling around. They beat the snot out of the division rival Virginia Tech Hokies and wiped the floor with a solid two-loss Notre Dame team. Should the Hurricanes beat Clemson in Charlotte in the ACC Championship, Miami is a top-two, seed period. Wisconsin has to win out to essentially get the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Good luck with either the ACC, the SEC or Oklahoma in the national semifinal.