Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn, Ole Miss.
BENDER ANALYSIS: The unbeaten teams | The one-loss teams
Three SEC West teams in the playoff with Alabama not far behind at No. 6?
Of course that never was a threat to play out as three of those four SEC teams would knock each other out in divisional play (and eventually Alabama would land in the playoff).
The selection committee was right with Florida State. The defending BCS champion Seminoles finished the regular season undefeated.
— At 13-0 and the only undefeated team in the country, FSU was given the No. 3 seed.
— Alabama, the aforementioned No. 6 team in the first ranking, was the top seed.
— Oregon, fifth in the first ranking, garnered the No. 2 seed.
— Ohio State was given the No. 4 seed, then beat Alabama in the semifinals and Oregon in the title game for the championship.
The Buckeyes checked in at No. 16 in that first poll a year ago.
So don’t take Tuesday night’s announcement too seriously. Plenty of big games remain — here are 25 big ones in November — and what you see tonight may not resemble what you see Dec. 6.
MORE: This week’s SN Power Rankings
Here’s a look at the first ranking from last season:
Mississippi State
Florida State
Auburn
Ole Miss
Oregon
Alabama
TCU
Michigan State
Kansas State
Notre Dame
Georgia
Arizona
Baylor
Arizona State
Nebraska
Ohio State
Utah
Oklahoma
LSU
West Virginia
Clemson
UCLA
East Carolina
Duke
Louisville
