In its initial rankings, Clemson was placed fifth — one spot behind Penn State, which was also undefeated but less dominant. (And the issue became moot when Penn State lost at Minnesota on the Saturday after the first ranking.) Two weeks ago, Baylor beat Texas, 24-10, and leapt past Wisconsin and Michigan, which won decisively, and an idle Florida to move from 14th to ninth. Asked on a conference call Tuesday night what the committee saw that the polls did not, Mullens said that Ohio State had four wins over Top 25 teams and that L.S.U. to offset another Ohio State win over Wisconsin in the playoff ranking, that would leave the polls and the committee at odds for the first time over who should be the top seed.

Source: New York Times December 04, 2019 04:30 UTC