The Saturday before the College Football Playoff selection committee reveals its first rankings, Clemson made a case to be No. 1 — for whatever that's worth.
The first rankings come out Tuesday night. They will be more interesting than important.
As college football fans found out last year, everything that comes before the final ranks is mostly conversation fodder and overreaction fuel. The first ever playoff rankings had Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Mississippi as the top four last year. SEC haters went nuts at the time, but none of those Southeastern Conference teams made the playoff.