My College Football Week 12 Rankings

I decided that I will determine my rankings before the committee releases their top 25, but I will wait until afterwards to post them.  That way, I can outline any major differences between my list and theirs.  For example, this week, there is still the major difference of my top 4 including only the undefeated Power 5 teams (all of them now, with Baylor losing) and the committee having once-beaten Alabama and Notre Dame in theirs.  I just think that a perfect resume trumps a one-loss record, even if that team has played a slightly tougher schedule.  Some other big differences are that I have Houston and North Carolina much higher in my top 25, which again, shows that I am looking more favorably at the records and not weighing SoS quite as much.  There are also some discrepancies in the 20-25 range, but really, there are a lot of choices for who could fill those spots and it doesn't matter that much at this point.  For me, I see the lack of an elite team in the Pac 12 (with Utah and Stanford each taking losses this weekend) as evidence that it's one of the deeper leagues this year.  They may not get a team in the playoffs, but they have some competitive 3-loss teams and that's why they round out the last 4 spots in my week 12 rankings.

The playoff field (for now):

1. Clemson (10-0), ACC

The Tigers had some trouble putting away Syracuse, but still have the strongest resume of any team, so they keep the top spot.

2. Ohio State (10-0), B1G ⇧1

The Buckeyes looked a little sluggish on offense against Illinois but had a dominating defensive effort. The performance on its own was not enough to justify a move up, but Oklahoma State's near loss to Iowa State was reason for the Cowboys to move down.

3. Iowa (10-0), B1G ⇧1

The Hawkeyes survived a good Minnesota team, and like Ohio State, move up because of Oklahoma State's struggles.

4. Oklahoma State (10-0), Big 12  ⇩2

The Cowboys needed a furious rally to beat the Cyclones, and that is why they dropped to number 4 in my rankings.  They will have chances to climb, though, with games against Baylor and Oklahoma up next. But really, there is not much difference (in my mind) between any of my top 4 teams at this point.

The rest:

Rank	Team	Record	Conf	Trend
5	Alabama	9-1	SEC	⇧1
6	Notre Dame	9-1	Indep	⇧1
7	Oklahoma	9-1	Big 12	⇧5
8	Florida	9-1	SEC	⇧1
9	Michigan State	9-1	B1G	⇧4
10	Houston	10-0	AAC	⇧5
11	North Carolina	9-1	ACC	⇧6
12	Baylor	9-1	Big 12	⇩7
13	TCU	9-1	Big 12	⇧1
14	Michigan	8-2	B1G	⇧2
15	Stanford	8-2	Pac 12	⇩5
16	LSU	8-2	SEC	⇩8
17	Utah	8-2	Pac 12	⇩6
18	Florida State	8-2	ACC	⇧1
19	Navy	8-1	AAC	⇧2
20	Northwestern	8-2	B1G	--
21	Wisconsin	8-2	B1G	⇧4
22	Washington State	7-3	Pac 12	New
23	Oregon	7-3	Pac 12	New
24	USC	7-3	Pac 12	New
25	UCLA	7-3	Pac 12	⇩7

Previous rankings:
Week 11
Week 10