First, Florida State had (yet another) bye week, so with their back loaded schedule they will climb late if they continue to win. Once they provide more evidence, they'll rise, and while ranked sixth, the differences are marginal between Florida State, LSU and Alabama. However, also remember, the best team Florida State has left to play is Miami. While they've played two fewer games than Mississippi State, they also don't have anyone good left (unlike Mississippi State who still has to play both Ole Miss and Alabama).
The selection committee will come out with their rankings on Tuesday. They will not mirror my top 4 not because mine are inaccurate, but because of politics. They can't get away with the top four (actually five) all being from the SEC West.
However, given the evidence we have so far, the top five teams in college football are all in the SEC West.
If you're wondering why Ole Miss didn't fall far, it's because while they did lose to LSU (resulting in a -2 to their win-loss score), LSU's losses aren't all that bad given they've only lost to undefeated Mississippi State and 1 loss Auburn (who only lost to undefeated Mississippi State). Ole Miss can essentially wipe clean the effect of these losses (which isn't much compared to say, Nebraska, losing to Sparty losing to Oregon losing to Arizona losing to USC losing to Utah, BC, and Arizona State, etc.) by beating State in the Egg Bowl. Meanwhile, Ole Miss's wins continue to become more powerful evidence of their goodness - obviously Alabama continuing to win is the largest component, but also Boise State beating a decent BYU and ULL doing the same to Arkansas State. As a result, the Rebels fall two spots, but hang in the top 4.
Top 25 (Explanation; Full Ranking)
- Mississippi State
- Auburn
- Ole Miss
- Alabama
- LSU
- Florida State
- Notre Dame
- Kansas State
- TCU
- Marshall
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Baylor
- West Virginia
- Louisiana Tech
- Oklahoma State
- Nebraska
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- Georgia
- UCLA
- Clemson
- Arizona State
- Colorado State
- Arizona