NCAA Football Rankings 2015: Analyzing Week 12 Polls, Top 25 College Standings

With only a few weeks left in the 2015 season, the college football world has a lot to work out before narrowing down four teams for the College Football Playoff. Well, Week 11 helped tremendously in that regard.

There were a number of teams previously mentioned in the same breath as other CFP contenders that proved they are no longer worthy, failing to overcome tough tests that would have proved their championship mettle. Meanwhile, other squads showed they'll be around down the stretch and are more than worthy of consideration.

Let's take a look at the Top 25 for the three major polls heading into Tuesday's reveal and talk about what it all means.

Where do we even begin?

Perhaps the ESPN College GameDay spectacle out in the Big 12 that was long looked toward would be a fitting start, the showdown between Oklahoma and Baylor in Waco, Texas, that essentially marked the Bears' first true test of the season. Baylor hung in, but couldn't match the Sooners as the game wore on and lost, 44-34.

While the loss undoubtedly takes Baylor out of the CFP picture just as TCU did a week before, it may be hard to discount the one-loss Sooners considering the way they've turned things around since their loss to Texas, as ESPN's Mike Greenberg observed:

Of course, Baylor was far from the only top-caliber team to fall flat Saturday with a chance to move closer to CFP contention.

A pair of Pac-12 teams also join the Bears in that regard. Both in the Top 10 entering the weekend, Utah and Stanford both suffered crushing defeats to give them two losses each on the season and spurn their fleeting CFP hopes.

You can kiss the conference's chances of making a national semifinal goodbye after that. ESPN Stats & Info noted how there isn't even a one-loss team in the fold:

Another top team threatened to join these squads in falling flat, with Oklahoma State coming closest to what would've been the most shocking defeat of them all. The unbeaten Cowboys trailed Iowa State big time, only to get it together and mount a huge comeback to top the Cyclones and stay undefeated.

Alabama joined Oklahoma State in staying in contention, but it did so in much more convincing fashion. The Crimson Tide stomped Mississippi State on the road, winning 31-6 and scoffing at folks who suggested this could be a trap game.

While other top teams struggle with poor schedules, you can't say as much about the Crimson Tide's slate, as Saturday Down South noted:

When it really boils down to it, Saturday's madness was just another week in the crazy college football season that has been 2015. Wacky results are becoming the norm, and teams tend to drop out of the CFP conversation week in and week out.

Don't expect Week 12 to be much different.