Welp, the College Football Playoff committee scored some big #embracedebate points released their first rankings last night, and the Tigers check in at No. 2.
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Obviously, the big headline was Alabama making the top four, but I'm not sure why people were really surprised. The narrative builds them in a benefit of the doubt. Always has, and always will when they're good. There's room for debate on the merits of the rankings, but here's the thing.
This is all in LSU's hands. Win on Saturday, Alabama's out of the SEC title race and the playoff discussion. Lose, and Alabama will have one of the biggest marquee wins of anybody in that top 6 and deserve to be back in the discussion. SHOULD it matter that Alabama lost to an Ole Miss team that Florida monkeystomped? Sure. A lot of things should matter that don't when it comes to this. But they don't. All that matters is that LSU takes care of business on Saturday.
Anyways, here's the rest of the rankings.
| Playoff committee ranking | S&P+ranking | Best win, per S&P+ | Worst loss, per S&P+ | If the season ended today | |
| 1 | Clemson (8-0) | 1 | Notre Dame | Orange Bowl vs. Alabama | |
| 2 | LSU (7-0) | 6 | Florida | Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State | |
| 3 | Ohio State (8-0) | 4 | Penn State | Cotton Bowl vs. LSU | |
| 4 | Alabama (7-1) | 2 | Wisconsin | Ole Miss | Orange Bowl vs. Clemson |
| 5 | Notre Dame (7-1) | 9 | USC | at Clemson | Fiesta or Peach |
| 6 | Baylor (7-0) | 5 | West Virginia | Sugar Bowl | |
| 7 | Michigan State (8-0) | 23 | at Michigan | New Year's bowl, potentially Rose* | |
| 8 | TCU (8-0) | 7 | West Virginia | New Year's bowl | |
| 9 | Iowa (8-0) | 16 | at Wisconsin | New Year's bowl, potentially Rose* | |
| 10 | Florida (7-1) | 10 | Ole Miss | at LSU | Sugar Bowl |
| 11 | Stanford (7-1) | 17 | at USC | at Northwestern | Rose Bowl |
| 12 | Utah (7-1) | 24 | Michigan | at USC | |
| 13 | Memphis (8-0) | 34 | Ole Miss | Fiesta or Peach** | |
| 14 | Oklahoma State (8-0) | 35 | at West Virginia | ||
| 15 | Oklahoma (7-1) | 8 | West Virginia | Texas | |
| 16 | Florida State (7-1) | 14 | Louisville | at Georgia Tech | |
| 17 | Michigan (6-2) | 3 | BYU | at Utah | |
| 18 | Ole Miss (7-2) | 12 | at Alabama | at Memphis | |
| 19 | Texas A&M (6-2) | 37 | Mississippi State | at Ole Miss | |
| 20 | Mississippi State (6-2) | 21 | Louisiana Tech | at Texas A&M | |
| 21 | Northwestern (6-2) | 49 | Stanford | Iowa | |
| 22 | Temple (7-1) | 39 | Penn State | Notre Dame | |
| 23 | UCLA (6-2) | 19 | BYU | Arizona State | |
| 24 | Toledo (7-0) | 20 | Arkansas | ||
| 25 | Houston (8-0) | 31 | at Louisville |