Poll Problems: Week 12

Alabama vaults to No. 1 after knocking Mississippi State from the ranks of the unbeaten, but the Bulldogs remain in the top 4 as TCU is punished for an ugly win.

1. Alabama (Last Week: 5)

Who didn't see this coming? The Tide deserve to be in the playoff, but jumping from out of the top 4 to No. 1 seems like a bold move by the committee after a home win in a game where they were favored.

2. Oregon (Last Week: 2)

The Ducks had a bye week, which is proving to be quite the kiss of death when it comes to these rankings.

3. Florida State (Last Week: 3)

Just win, baby. You can question Florida State's methods (you probably should), but they continue to win. The commitee seems to want to find a way to push the Noles out of the playoff though.

4. Mississippi State (Last Week: 1)

I don't think anybody really believed Mississippi State was the best team in the country, but I actually don't have as big a problem with their continued inclusion in the playoff as you might expect because...

5. TCU (Last Week: 4)

I still want TCU in the playoff and believe the Frogs are a better team than Mississippi State, but come on, man. As someone who has bashed the committee for ignoring certain results, I can't really get on them for punishing TCU for barely sneaking by an awful team like Kansas.

6. Ohio State (Last Week: 8)

The Buckeyes edged overrated Minnesota this week and jumped Baylor for some reason known only to the committee.

7. Baylor (Last Week: 7)

The curse of the bye week strikes again, as the Bears stay put with Ohio State moving past them. Baylor is not getting much love from the committee right now, and they have to hope Kansas State continues to win and then beat the Wildcats to end the season. But would that even be enough?

8. Ole Miss (Last Week: 10)

The Rebels are far from dead, even with two losses, thanks to a home date with Mississippi State and an SEC West tiebreaker with Alabama if the Tide stumble against Auburn.

9. UCLA (Last Week: 11)

Of course, the only team immune to bye-week punishment is UCLA, because they are just spectacular in the eyes of the committee. The hype for the Bruins still baffles me.

10. Georgia (Last Week: 15)

I was stunned by what Georgia did to Auburn. Maybe ranked a bit high at face value, but I'm also not sure who you could put above them.

11. Michigan State (Last Week: 12)

Sparty's playoff hopes were dashed after the crushing loss to Ohio State, but they bounced back to beat Maryland.

12. Kansas State (Last Week: 13)

K-State is out of the playoff race, but the Wildcats can still play spoiler when they face Baylor the last game of the season.

13. Arizona State (Last Week: 6)

Never bought into them and said as much several times. I didn't necessarily see a loss to Oregon State coming, but I'll take it for validation purposes.

14. Auburn (Last Week: 9)

Again, I was very surprised by the result against Georgia. Auburn was still in decent position for the playoff with two losses, but a third has ended any aspirations the Tigers may have had.

15. Arizona (Last Week: 14)

Arizona got a boost for beating Washington and ... wait, never mind. Only UCLA gets a boost for beating Washington.

16. Wisconsin (Last Week: 20)

We called Wisconsin exposing Nebraska, but Melvin Gordon's level of hate for the Huskers reached a level mine never could have.

17. Utah (Last Week: 23)

I'm done trying to figure this out.

18. Georgia Tech (Last Week: 22)

We all know what happened here, and there is no reason the Jackets shouldn't be ranked in the top 20.

19. USC (Last Week: NR)

Moves from unranked to No. 19 for beating Cal at home by a touchdown. PAC-12 BAYBAY!!!

20. Missouri (Last Week: NR)

The loss to Indiana certainly isn't looking any better, but at some point you have to give Missouri credit for winning games. The Tigers would still be a disastrous representative for the SEC East in the conference championship.

21. Oklahoma (Last Week: NR)

The Sooners' three losses are all to top-12 teams, so I guess that's something.

22. Clemson (Last Week: 19)

Actually surprised to see Clemson still ranked this high. Not really sure why the committee chose this week's poll as the time to give the Tigers any credit.

23. Nebraska (Last Week: 16)

Looked like a fraud, smelled like a fraud, was a fraud.

24. Louisville (Last Week: NR)

The Cardinals are definitely a top-25 team, and they get a shot at a demoralized Notre Dame this weekend.

25. Minnesota (Last Week: 25)

Hung tough with Ohio State, but the Gophers still have an ugly loss to Illinois and no good wins. There's really nobody else to rank though.