The College Football Playoff Committee released its Top 25 rankings for the second-to-last week of the regular season. There weren’t any drastic changes in the revelation of the rankings, and I expected that, but as rivalry week approaches, the competition for the top teams is going to increase. Here is what is right and what is wrong with the College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings.

What is right with the rankings:

The University of Southern California entered the rankings. Thank you, Committee. The Pac-12 finally has a third team in the top 25 rankings for the first time since Washington was in it during week eight. Even though the Trojans have lost four games this year, the quality win against Utah at the beginning of the season matters as Utah goes up in the rankings. They do have close losses in their resume, but they keep winning in favored matchups, which is what teams are supposed to do.

SMU is also back in the top 25. I don’t even understand why they got booted out in the first place. The Mustangs’ only loss comes from the Memphis team who is the favorite to go to the Cotton Bowl right now, and they sit right behind Memphis in the American West division. The Mustangs are looking for a birth to the American Championship Game. This team is good. They should have never been removed in the first place.

Oklahoma only went up one spot, good. They had to come back down 28-3 against the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas. During the first half of that game, they looked like a last place team in the Big 12, and somehow pulled a three-point win out of nowhere. They did look impressive in the second half, but that is mostly due to the collapse of the Bears. The Big 12 is an inconsistent conference this year, and the Committee recognizes that.

What is wrong with the rankings:

Why is Iowa State in the Top 25? They have looked inconsistent all year, losing to Iowa by one, Baylor by two, Oklahoma State by seven, and Oklahoma by one. One week, they look like a top 25 team, and the next week, they struggle against an opponent they should beat down. They have beat Texas, but that win doesn’t matter anymore, in terms of resume building.

Memphis and Cincinnati need to be higher. Both teams are good, and their losses have happened against good teams this year. Memphis lost to a good Temple team in Philadelphia by two, and Cincinnati lost to the No. 2 team in the country, Ohio State, on the road. Their conference deserves more respect for losing to good teams, while still dominating in their own conference. One of these teams is probably going to the Cotton Bowl, so they should get more respect than the Committee is giving them.

Baylor needs to go down one more spot. For 30 minutes, this team looked like a top five team in the country, at least, and just collapsed in the last 30 minutes. On both sides of the ball, the Bears seemed to be inefficient and not able to do anything. The Bears should go down because of how bad the Big 12 is and blowing a 28-3 lead. They aren’t the Atlanta Falcons, but they sure acted like it this past Saturday.

Notable matchups for this week:

No. 2 Ohio State faces No. 8 Penn State at 9 a.m. on FOX

Texas A&M plays No. 4 Georgia at 12:30 p.m. on CBS

No. 13 Michigan visits Bloomington, Indiana, to face Indiana University at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN

Texas plays No. 14 Baylor at 12:30 p.m. on FS1

Temple faces No. 19 Cincinnati at 4 p.m. on ESPN2

No. 20 Boise State travels to Logan, Utah, to face Utah State University at 7:30 p.m. on CBSSN

No. 21 Oklahoma State faces West Virginia at 9 a.m. on ESPN2

No. 25 SMU plays Navy at 12:30 p.m. on CBSSN