Chuck Cook/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
When the College Football Playoff committee convened to formulate its first rankings of this season, there was no shortage of strong cases.
The top five teams in The Associated Press poll are all undefeated, and one of them is the defending national champion.
[This is a developing story. It will be updated soon.]
In the initial playoff rankings announced on Tuesday night, the critical top four spots went to Ohio State, L.S.U., Alabama and Penn State, leaving Clemson, last season’s champ at No. 5. All five teams are undefeated and in the top five of The Associated Press poll, where Clemson is No.