Source: blocku.com

The CFP Committee has been at it for two weeks already, and Tuesday's rankings certainly brought some surprise & intrigue. With two top 4 teams going down from the Committee's initial set of rankings, there were bound to be major changes. Let's dive a little deeper into the 2nd set of the College Football Playoff Rankings with 3 takeaways:

Source: dallasmorningnews.com / Oklahoma hung-on to defeat Iowa State, 42-41, but were badly outplayed in the 4th quarter in the process.

(1) OKLAHOMA IS NOT UNDERRATED

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One of the most repeated sentiments out there about the 2nd set of CFP rankings is that Oklahoma is being 'vastly' underrated at #10. Having an elite offense doesn't necessarily mean you automatically should be ranked in the top 5. Jalen Hurts has been spectacular, but OU's overall resume just doesn't merit being a top 6 of 7 team - at least to this point.

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Yes, they have the big victory over Texas earlier in the season (the Longhorns are just 6-3 to this point, however), but their whole resume to date centers around that win. Look at what they've done in the last two games they've played: went to Kansas State and were dominated by the Wildcats in a game in which they trailed by 25 points in the 4th quarter and were outscored 41-16 over the middle two quarters. Last week they were outscored 20-0 in the 4th quarter at HOME against Iowa State (a solid team, but still just 5-4 on the season), getting a gift when ISU decided to go for 2 and the win at the end of regulation, instead of sending it to OT. Giving up 89 points in your last two games? Nothing about that screams top 5 or 6 team in the country. Now, knock off Baylor in Waco tomorrow, and then we can talk about the Sooners being a top 5 or 6 team.

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Source: collegefootballnews.com / The Tide don't have a top 4 resume at the moment, but are commensurate with teams like Oregon & Utah, making #5 seem just right...

(2) ALABAMA IS JUST RIGHT AT #5

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I really don't have a problem with the Crimson Tide being ranked anywhere from #4-#6 at the moment. Afterall, the loss to LSU this past weekend is certainly not a bad one by any means. Georgia can't say the same about their home loss to South Carolina - who has now faded since that big win and are just 4-6 on the season. So the conversation for the current #4 and #5 spot really centers around the whole "bad" loss debate.

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The committee has shown in the past they've been willing to forgive teams for a perceived "bad" loss. Take Oklahoma from 2 years ago - all of Baker Mayfield's 'bravado' wasn't enough to prevent the Sooners from losing at home as a 32-point favorite (yikes) to Iowa State. They still made the final four. Point is, if you have a strong enough overall resume, it can make up for that bad loss.

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That is where we are with Georgia & Alabama. The Dawgs' have a 'bad' loss, but also have the substantially better resume to this point. With victories at Florida & at home against Notre Dame, UGA has two of the better wins of any other resume out there. Alabama just has a win at Texas A&M as their best to date, which of course pails in comparison to the two listed above. Alabama is good, but the resume just doesn't merit top 4 to this point.

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Source: thedailygopher.com / Minnesota is 9-0, but how close are they really to the top 4?

(3) WHAT ABOUT MINNESOTA?

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There is always one. Each year there seems to be one team who comes out of nowhere, be it a combination of schedule, experience, health, etc, and causes a stir in the CFP debate. Central Florida led the way the past couple of seasons, TCU and Iowa were the crashers before that, and so on. This year it's the Minnesota Golden Gophers who are now 9-0 and starting to make a case for the top 4. They checked in at a laughable #17 last week in the Committee's initial set of rankings. After taking care of the #4 team in Penn State this past Saturday, they really opened up the debate.

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Having Minnesota outside of the top 10 before last week's win over the Nittany Lions was completely merited due to a very soft non-conference schedule (South Dakota State 28-21, Fresno State 38-35 OT, & Georgia Southern 35-32) in which the Gophers did not look particularly impressive. The Minnesota team of the last 4-5 weeks has been playing at a completely different level however. They beat Illinois (who is now Bowl-eligible) by 23, Nebraska by 27, Rutgers by 35, and Maryland by 42 before last week's big victory over Penn State.

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A victory at Kinnick Stadium tomorrow in a tough environment against a physical Iowa team (that is currently ranked #20 by the Committee) would really cause everyone to have to take note of this team. It would also take care of some of the "weak" resume debate as well. The Gophers might be closer to the top 4 than people think.