The most important weekend of the college football season to date has concluded, and it provided a glimpse into how its final four weeks may play out.
The headliner for Saturday was then-No. 3 LSU's win over then-top-ranked Alabama, a 46-41 thriller that lived up to the "Game of the Century" moniker. The Tigers' win vaulted them to the top of Sporting News' rankings, but the Crimson Tide are still within striking distance of a rematch in the College Football Playoff. The other big-name game on Saturday was Penn State at Minnesota, a surprising 31-26 upset for the Gophers in Minneapolis that muddles the Playoff picture.
MORE: Week 12 Playoff picture
Elsewhere, Ohio State throttled Maryland 73-14 (giving us pause on how to rank the top two teams), and Georgia handled Missouri without much issue, 27-0. Oklahoma and Baylor avoided disaster for the Big 12 with close wins over Iowa State and TCU, respectively; Clemson took care of business against N.C. State to become the first 10-win team among the Playoff competitors. Pac-12 contenders Oregon and Utah were idle, but still saw movement up — and down — our top 25.
With that, SN's college football rankings ahead of the Week 12 slate of games:
Sporting News Week 12 college football rankings
| Rank | Team | Change |
| 1 | LSU (9-0) | +2 |
| 2 | Ohio State (9-0) | — |
| 3 | Clemson (10-0) | +1 |
| 4 | Georgia (8-1) | +2 |
| 5 | Oregon (8-1) | +2 |
| 6 | Alabama (8-1) | -5 |
| 7 | Oklahoma (8-1) | +1 |
| 8 | Minnesota (9-0) | +3 |
| 9 | Baylor (9-0) | +1 |
| 10 | Utah (8-1) | -1 |
| 11 | Penn State (8-1) | -6 |
| 12 | Florida (8-2) | — |
| 13 | Michigan (7-2) | — |
| 14 | Auburn (7-2) | — |
| 15 | Notre Dame (7-2) | +3 |
| 16 | Memphis (8-1) | +1 |
| 17 | Boise State (8-1) | +2 |
| 18 | Wisconsin (7-2) | +7 |
| 19 | Cincinnati (8-1) | +3 |
| 20 | SMU (9-1) | — |
| 21 | Indiana (7-2) | — |
| 22 | Kansas State (6-3) | -7 |
| 23 | Wake Forest (7-2) | -7 |
| 24 | App State (8-1) | -1 |
| 25 | Louisiana Tech (8-1) | NR |
Moved in: Louisiana Tech
Dropped out: Iowa
