College Football Playoff Rankings: Biggest Takeaways from Week 4

Survive and advance.

That's what Florida State did after the 11th-hour edict (well, it came down at 11 p.m. ET Friday) that kept Jameis Winston out of Saturday night's ACC showdown against Clemson. Despite the shaky play of first-time starting quarterback Sean Maguire, the Seminoles took advantage of a plethora of Tigers mistakes to pull out a 23-17 victory in overtime.

By winning its 19th consecutive game, FSU kept alive its quest of making the first College Football Playoff and repeating as national champions. The close escape will not harm the Seminoles' chances of making it to the playoff field as long as they keep winning.

Since they have only a single game against a ranked opponent remaining in the regular season—versus Notre Dame at home Oct. 18—their biggest challenge ahead might be to make sure Winston stays out of trouble.

But FSU was hardly the only playoff contender encountering problems this weekend; each of the Top Five teams in the AP poll took a good while before putting away pesky opponents. Auburn stole (maybe not literally) a victory at Kansas State on Thursday, and Oregon stayed up late before finally dispatching Washington State. 

At the end, we have more or less status quo, as No. 7 LSU was the only team in the Top 15 that actually lost. That doesn't mean there isn't any movement at the top. Here's a quick look at what's transpired in Week 4:

Teams That Moved Up

Michigan State

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The Spartans routed Eastern Michigan, as expected, but what really buoyed them was what the rest of the Big Ten did. 

Much maligned after the first three weeks of the season, the B1G went 12-1 this weekend and 4-1 against Big Five power-conference foes. Indiana's upset of the SEC's Missouri was the highlight.

As the highest-ranked Big Ten team, MSU will try to crawl back into the playoff picture.

Mississippi State

Will all seven SEC West teams be ranked in the Top 25 at some point this season? That's looking very likely after the Bulldogs pulled off the day's biggest upset, a 34-29 win in Death Valley over LSU.

MSU has no breathing room, just like any other team in this division. After a bye week, the Bulldogs get Texas A&M and Auburn back-to-back.

Oklahoma

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West Virginia proved to be pesky, but Oklahoma used a big second half to put the game away.

The Sooners can rightfully claim that their 12-point win over WVU is more impressive than Alabama's 10-point victory since they played in Morgantown whereas 'Bama had a quasi-home game at the Georgia Dome.

Alabama

The Tide labored for a while before dismissing Florida. But even with four turnovers, Alabama pulled away thanks to 445 passing yards by Blake Sims and 645 yards of total offense.

So far, Nick Saban's hiring of the lightning rod Lane Kiffin as the offensive coordinator has not been a bust, especially since his former OC, Doug Nussmeier, isn't exactly lighting it up at Michigan.

Duke

With the ACC Coastal again looking like the conference's redheaded stepchild, it certainly seems possible, even likely, that Duke might win the division again.

The Blue Devils are one of only two unbeaten teams in the division (Georgia Tech is the other), and their high-octane offense is coming off back-to-back blowouts of Kansas and Tulane.

Teams That Moved Down

BYU

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After their impressive rout of Texas, the Cougars again labored to put away a team they should handle comfortably at home. As an independent, BYU is in desperate need of style points, as it's guaranteed nothing in the CFP structure.

It didn't get enough in Saturday's 41-33 win over Virginia.

LSU 

The Tigers were given a pass after rallying to defeat Wisconsin in the season opener, but they won't get one from the voters after losing to Mississippi State.

They get most of their tough SEC West games late in the season, but by then the Tigers might be out of it.

SEC East

Whereas the SEC West is rightfully viewed as the toughest division, the East is anything but. Every team has already lost at least once, and no team has done much to distinguish itself.

Is it too late for the SEC to let two West teams play for the conference title?

Oregon

The Ducks blew a chance to cement their claim for No. 1 when they couldn't pull away from a Washington State team that lost to Rutgers and Nevada.

Just like it did for three quarters against Michigan State, Oregon's defense is showing all kinds of signs of being very ordinary.

Northern Illinois

After vexing the BCS for the last two years, the playoff committee can relax, as the Huskies will no longer be worthy of any sort of discussion for anything after a blowout loss at Arkansas. 

"Group of 5" Team in the Best Position

East Carolina

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A week after upsetting Virginia Tech, the Pirates hung 70 points on North Carolina.

While Marshall and Cincinnati are the only teams from "Group of 5" conferences without a loss, ECU has easily the most impressive resume. So impressive, in fact, that if it wins the American Athletic in its inaugural season, it should be a lock for a New Year's Six bowl.

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