In advance of Tuesday night's second rankings reveal (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), the FootballScoop staff has laid out how we see the top six teams in the country.
We're in agreement that Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama belong at the top. After that? There's still a lot to sort through.
SCOTT (@FootballScoop)
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
LAST TWO OUT: and
ZACH (@zach_barnett)
No. 1 At this point, they're the No. 1 team until something crazy happens.
No. 2 Bumped the Tide ahead of Ohio State for now, but expect to move the Buckeyes back if-and-when they close with wins over Michigan State and Michigan.
No. 3 Here's hoping, for a lot reasons, J.T. Barrett remains in the Ohio State starting lineup for the remainder of the year.
No. 4If we think Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State (in some order) are in the clear - and I think they are - the race between Notre Dame, the Pac-12 and the Big 12 could be fascinating.
LAST TWO OUT: and
Oklahoma State's win over TCU means a Big 12 finally has a tangible skin on the wall. Go get two more, Pokes, and you'll be golden.
As for Iowa, this is more of a show of protest to demonstrate everything the Hawkeyes have accomplished thus far. The Hawkeyes took down Wisconsin (Alabama's second-best win) on the road and beat Northwestern (Stanford's best win) by 30 on the road. Now, as for climbing higher than this, Iowa better win out (which goes without saying) and hope Ohio State does the same until the Big Ten championship.
DOUG (@CoachSamz)
No. 1 With remaining games at Syracuse, home against Wake Forest, and at South Carolina, the ACC title game is the biggest test that stands between a focused Clemson squad and the CFB playoff.
No. 2 It may not be pretty, but the Buckeyes keep winning, and history proves it's not smart to bet against Urban Meyer.
No. 3The way they beat LSU, and stuffed the run without stuffing the box is all I needed to see to prove to me that this squad is one of the top four in the country.
No. 4 Their strength of schedule may be lacking, but with the exception of the Kansas State game (which they played with a backup quarterback), the Bears have blown out every single team by halftime. That's impressive enough to me to put them in my top 4.
LAST TWO OUT: and
Notre Dame: The season finale against Stanford keeps getting bigger and bigger for the Fighting Irish
Oklahoma State: Even more impressive to me than their thumping of TCU is how they did it. The Horned Frogs ran 110 plays, and gave up just 29 points, which boils down to just 1.7 points per possession to one of the hottest offenses in CFB. With games against Baylor and Oklahoma to end the year, Oklahoma has as good of a shot to stake their claim among the top 4 as any team.