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Winners and losers in College Football Playoff first rankings include Big Ten and Clemson

USA TODAY

There’s an SEC feel atop the first College Football Playoff rankings, with three teams from the conference inside the top six, and the timing couldn’t be better: No. 3 Alabama hosts No. 2 LSU on Saturday, in one of the most hyped regular-season games of the past several seasons.

Another two SEC teams, No. 10 Florida and No. 11 Auburn, led all two-loss Power Five teams and even led unbeaten Baylor, due to the Bears’ weaker strength of schedule. The Big Ten put two teams into the top four, including No.