College Football Playoff 2014: Official Selection Committee Rankings for Week 12

Down goes Auburn, and with its fall comes some clarity atop the College Football Playoff rankings. After a week that saw Texas A&M pull off a surprising upset of the third-ranked Tigers and six different matchups between Top 25 teams, we're finally beginning to cross schools out of playoff contention.

Mississippi State, Oregon and Florida State, playoff teams a week ago, stay as such in the latest committee rankings—albeit with one major change. The 9-1 Ducks, despite having a loss, leapfrogged the undefeated Seminoles (9-0) to take the second spot. The question coming into Tuesday night, though, was whether Alabama or TCU would occupy the fourth and final spot.

The Crimson Tide and Horned Frogs each earned impressive wins over ranked opponents, with Alabama needing overtime to take down LSU while TCU went all scorched-earth on Kansas State. In the end, the 12-person committee went with the more impressive victory. TCU was named as the fourth would-be finalist, with Alabama rounding out the Top Five.

Here's a look at how the rest of the Top 25 played out:

Given the number of high-profile games on the schedule, it's no surprise changes abound. Alabama earned its stripes with a hard-fought 20-13 victory over LSU, as the Tide needed multiple big plays to stay alive. Blake Sims, who struggled mightily for most of regulation, led a 55-yard drive in 50 seconds to set up a 27-yard Adam Griffith field goal that sent the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Sims hit DeAndrew White from six yards out to put Alabama ahead for good. The senior finished with 209 yards and two touchdowns but completed only 20 of 45 passes.

"He didn't have one of his better games. It was tough," Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters. "He hung in there. He made some great plays when he had to...I'm really, really proud of way he hung in there."

TCU's triumph over Kansas State involved much less stress. Trevone Boykin accounted for 342 total yards and four touchdowns as TCU scored the first two touchdowns and never trailed in a 41-20 victory. The Horned Frogs have gone 5-1 in a six-game stretch playing five ranked opponents, with their only loss coming in heartbreaking fashion to Baylor.

The Bears got their own resume-affirming win Saturday, unloading a 48-14 walloping on Oklahoma in Norman. Corey Coleman made 15 receptions for 224 yards and had two touchdowns (one rushing), helping Baylor score the game's final 45 points. It was an exclamation-point loss for Oklahoma, which came into the season with national title hopes and is now 6-3.

Baylor, meanwhile, got the performance everyone has been waiting for. The committee still prefers TCU's overall resume, but it'll be interesting to see how much that head-to-head win for Baylor plays a difference down the stretch. 

"The only thing we can control is to try to win out, be 11-1 and have an opportunity to be (Big 12) co-champions," TCU coach Gary Patterson told Stephen Hawkins of The Associated Press. "Just how we play, and what the general public and the committee think about us when we get done...we've just got to control our own destiny."

Resume affirmation also came for Arizona State and Ohio State, which each have legitimate claims for a Top Five spot. The Buckeyes, who were behind two-loss Ole Miss a week ago, went to East Lansing and earned a 49-37 win over Michigan State that was stronger than the final score indicates. They punted only twice, converting 10 of 14 third downs and putting up 568 yards of total offense.

J.T. Barrett accounted for five touchdowns and 386 total yards, continuing his emergence as one of college football's best quarterbacks.

"I think it is, because I love my team and I don't know enough," Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer told reporters when asked if Ohio State is a playoff team. "I haven't studied the other teams really. If I have to go fight for this team, what they've done—very impressive. That darn loss the second game, if that hurts us, I'll take the hit for that."

The loss to which Meyer refers was against Virginia Tech in Barrett's second game under center. The freshman threw three interceptions and generally looked like a mess, with it appearing that Ohio State's season was already over. Barrett has responded with a rapid improvement, throwing three interceptions total during the Buckeyes' seven-game winning streak.

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

No improvements under center have been needed for Arizona State, which continues to get sterling performances from its defense. The Sun Devils picked off Notre Dame's Everett Golson four times, returning two for touchdowns in a 55-31 romp. Taylor Kelly added four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and D.J. Foster rushed for 120 yards in a strong all-around performance.

A visit to rival Arizona is the only remaining challenge on Arizona State's schedule, leaving open the Pac-12 Championship Game as a potential de facto playoff game. Second-ranked Oregon finishes with relative cakewalks against Colorado and Oregon State, and the Ducks earned more respect from the committee with a 51-27 win over Utah.

Marcus Mariota very likely supplanted Dak Prescott as the Heisman favorite with his third straight game with at least four total touchdowns.

In all, we're down to just 10 teams with zero or one loss and thus a legitimate playoff shot. The most surprising of those is No. 21 Duke, which finishes its regular season with three straight home games against Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Wake Forest. It's possible the Blue Devils are 11-1 heading into an ACC Championship Game matchup with Florida State.   

In other words: Just when you think the college football hierarchy is sussing itself out, things get weird. 

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