USA TODAY Sports
We begin with the requisite public service announcement. We’re inching closer to the final set of College Football Playoff rankings — or the only poll that matters. By the selection committee’s own admission, they’re all meaningless until then. Unless, of course, the goal is to rile up everybody (or as they would put it, helping to drive the conversation about college football).
But even these preliminary rankings provide a window into the collective thinking of the committee.
We get a chance each week to see some of the factors that will matter on Dec.