Author: George Schroeder, USA TODAY

Defending champ Clemson would be left out of College Football Playoff if season ended today. It doesn’t, though, so its No. 5 ranking doesn’t matter.

The College Football Playoff committee will released its first rankings, but it’s just the start of the debate until the field is announced.

By FSU standards, recruiting was just OK. The product on the field was substandard. Taggart inherited problems but it’s clear he could not fix them.

As Ohio State rolls and Oklahoma falls, the SEC dreams of getting two teams into College Football Playoff. Out West, Oregon and Utah climb back in.

LSU’s standing as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender was bolstered Saturday night with the Tigers’ big win over Florida.

Defense has been the Achilles heel for Oklahoma in its last two College Football Playoff appearance. But by throttling Texas, that might have changed.

The Red River rivalry hadn’t started, but every Oklahoma and Texas player was penalized after a pregame skirmish between the teams at the Cotton Bowl.

No. 5 Oklahoma used an aggressive defense and the big play by receiver of CeeDee Lamb to knock off No. 11 Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Oklahoma’s maligned defense made changes with hire of coordinator Alex Grinch. But even strong early play, Texas game will prove how far it has come.

Kyle Trask didn’t start at his Texas high school and rode the bench for his first three seasons at Florida. Now he is the starting quarterback.