College Football Playoff Rankings 2016: Best Reaction to Week 12 Top 25 Poll

The college football world descended into pure chaos during Week 11, which left the College Football Playoff committee with a number of difficult choices. 

It started Thursday, when Duke upset rival North Carolina. Then it went into hyper speed Saturday, when Clemson lost to Pittsburgh, Michigan lost to Iowa, Washington lost to USC, Texas A&M lost to Ole Miss, Auburn lost to Georgia and Virginia Tech lost to Georgia Tech.

ESPN Stats & Info underscored just how unexpected it was for Clemson, Michigan and Washington to lose on the same day:

Alabama and Ohio State were the two constants on Saturday with 51-3 and 62-3 victories, respectively, but even the Buckeyes don't control their own destiny in the Big Ten race. If Penn State and Ohio State each win out, the Buckeyes will watch the Big Ten title game from home.

With all that in mind, here is a look at the playoff rankings released on Tuesday.

Rankings

Reaction

As expected, Alabama was No. 1 in the polls again thanks to its perfect 10-0 start and spot atop the college football universe as the defending national champions.

The Buckeyes sit at No. 2 but are still in a tenuous position because they don't control their conference fate, and Michigan and Clemson rounded out the Top Four despite losses on Saturday.

If two-loss Wisconsin wins the Big Ten, it could battle for the coveted No. 4 spot with a potential Pac-12 champion Washington or others. The Huskies were ahead of the Badgers in these rankings, which caught the eye of Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com and Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com:

They are both looking up at Michigan, and Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports provided an explanation for why the Wolverines didn't drop from No. 3:

Michigan's rival, Ohio State, is sitting at No. 2 but is one of the biggest storylines because of the Big Ten situation. McMurphy, Barrett Sallee of Bleacher Report and Dan Wolken of USA Today all weighed in on the Buckeyes' fate:

The Big Ten has four of the top eight teams, and Bryan Fischer of College Football Talk said, "I think the Big Ten getting two teams in is looking better and better as time goes on."

Elsewhere, Maximiliano Bretos of ESPN reacted to Louisville's No. 5 slot after the weekend of upheaval:

Jake Trotter of ESPN.com and Mandel were both left wondering why West Virginia wasn't higher, which is likely a concern of the Big 12 considering the Mountaineers could still win the conference:

Things are bound to change in the final weeks, and Sallee wrapped things up in tongue-in-cheek fashion: 

The season has entered the stretch run, but Saturday illustrated just how much can change in one day.

The one thing for certain is the Crimson Tide control their own destiny with two games remaining in the regular season, but the two-year precedent that only conference champions make the playoffs could be tested this season. Ohio State and Louisville could both finish 11-1 and miss out on their respective conference title games, which would leave the committee with some interesting picks. 

Would a two-loss and Big Ten champion Wisconsin team possibly get in over those one-loss schools, one of which beat it head-to-head? Would Clemson's victory over Louisville loom larger than the subjective eye test with the Cardinals already clinging to seven wins of more than 30 points with two games remaining?

Those questions and more will be answered in the coming weeks. If Saturday was any indication, it will be a wild ride the rest of the way until the official four-team playoff is announced on Dec. 4.