SEC West: 3 of top 4 in rankings

— -- As expected, unbeatens Mississippi State and Florida State top the initial College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday night.

Two more SEC West teams -- Auburn and Ole Miss -- round out the top four teams in the rankings, which were put together by a 12-member committee that met this week outside of Dallas.

The top four teams in the final rankings on Dec. 7 will play in the inaugural College Football Playoff, starting Jan. 1 with semifinals games at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Mississippi State would play Ole Miss, while Florida State would meet Auburn.

The National Championship Game is Jan. 12 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"Head to head is important, but it's not the only factor, obviously," Playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long said.

"We're still early in this process," Long added.

Oregon and Alabama are fifth and sixth. The Tide is ranked third in the AP and USA Today polls, as well as the ESPN Power Rankings, while Ole Miss is seventh. But the Rebels beat the Tide 23-17 on Oct. 7.

Notre Dame is No. 6 in the AP poll, but fell to No. 10 in the CFP rankings, despite suffering its only loss to the season, 31-27 at Florida State, on Oct. 18.

The rankings are sure to be scrambled by the time the committee makes its final choices. Auburn and Ole Miss play Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). Alabama visits Mississippi State on Nov. 15, while Auburn and Alabama meet on Nov. 29. Mississippi State also has a game with Ole Miss on Nov. 29.

Florida State has no remaining games scheduled against Top 25 opponents.

The remainder of the top 10 includes No. 7 TCU, No. 8 Michigan State, No. 9 Kansas State and No. 10 Notre Dame.

The Ducks have only one remaining Top 25 team on their schedule (No. 18 Utah on Nov. 8). TCU faces No. 20 West Virginia on Saturday, and No. 9 Kansas State on Nov. 8.

Michigan State has only one ranked team as well -- No. 16 Ohio State on Nov. 8. The Spartans' lone loss this season came at Oregon in the second week of the season. Spots 11-15 in the initial rankings went to Georgia, Arizona, Baylor, Arizona State and Nebraska. Ohio State is No. 16, followed by Utah, Oklahoma, LSU, West Virginia and Clemson.

The remaining teams in the top 25 are No. 21 Clemson, No.22 UCLA, No. 23 East Carolina, No. 24 Duke and No. 25 Louisville.