First College Football Playoff rankings immediately deliver argument fodder

Ah, college football -- a fun sport to watch, but one that relies on unpaid labor and still hasn't quite figured out how to crown an undisputed champion.

The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season were released Tuesday night, and already we have something to argue about.

Alabama, Clemson and Michigan comprised the top three teams in the fresh batch of rankings that will determine the four-team playoff for the championship at the end of the season. That much was expected.

But sliding into fourth place was Texas A&M, which lost earlier this season to Alabama by a score of 33-14. The Aggies came in one spot ahead of Washington, which is undefeated at 8-0 and an established top-four team in the Associated Press poll.

The Associated Press poll begins in the preseason and is fun to track -- but it's the College Football Playoffs rankings that determine the four-team playoff field. Thus, you must finish in the top four to have a shot at the national title -- and undefeated Washington currently finds itself on the outside looking in.

College football fans online didn't necessarily agree.

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So, what gives?

"Simply stating, the committee, in our mind, believes that Texas A&M has played a stronger schedule at this point in time of the season over Washington," College Football Playoff committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said, per Yahoo. "Texas A&M has got four wins against teams that are better records than .500 compared to Washington only having two wins against teams that have .500 or better records."

No need for Washington fans to get too worried yet, however. In two previous seasons since the College Football Playoff was implemented, the top-four in the initial set of rankings has never been the top-four that eventually comprised the playoff field.

New sets of rankings will now be released weekly through Dec. 4, when the playoff's four-team field will be unveiled.

Now here's the full top 25 list released by the College Football Playoff committee on Tuesday night.

1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Michigan 4. Texas A&M 5. Washington 6. Ohio State 7. Louisville 8. Wisconsin 9. Auburn 10. Nebraska 11. Florida 12. Penn State 13. LSU 14. Oklahoma 15. Colorado 16. Utah 17. Baylor 18. Oklahoma State 19. Virginia Tech 20. West Virginia 21. North Carolina 22. Florida State 23. Western Michigan 24. Boise State 25. Washington State