It wasn't quite as easy as many assumed it'd be, but each of the top three teams — and Oklahoma — won their respective conference title games to set up the final College Football Playoff field.
Of course, Ohio State made Buckeyes fans — and likely the Playoff selection committee — sweat a little after falling behind 21-7 to Wisconsin at halftime. But they managed to come back, locking their place in the final Playoff field. The Buckeyes, who likely wanted to claim the No. 1 seed among the final four teams, might not even be a top-two seed after Saturday's comeback win.
MORE: Playoff picture: Four in, two to watch
So it is with Sporting News' penultimate college football rankings. Georgia also fell out of the top four by way of their embarrassing 37-10 loss to LSU, which was enough to net the Tigers the No. 1 spot in SN's bowl season rankings. Oklahoma moved up to take the Bulldogs' place after their 30-23 overtime win over Baylor. Oregon also moved just outside the top four with a dominant 37-15 win over Utah in the Pac-12 championship game.
What does the rest of the top 25 look like after conference championship weekend? SN's full top 25 college football rankings ahead of bowl season:
Sporting News bowl season college football rankings
| Rank | Team | Change |
| 1 | LSU (13-0) | +1 |
| 2 | Clemson (13-0) | +1 |
| 3 | Ohio State (13-0) | -2 |
| 4 | Oklahoma (12-1) | +2 |
| 5 | Oregon (11-2) | +6 |
| 6 | Alabama (10-2) | +2 |
| 7 | Baylor (11-2) | — |
| 8 | Georgia (11-2) | -4 |
| 9 | Wisconsin (10-3) | — |
| 10 | Auburn (9-3) | — |
| 11 | Penn State (10-2) | +1 |
| 12 | Utah (11-2) | -7 |
| 13 | Notre Dame (10-2) | — |
| 14 | Florida (10-2) | — |
| 15 | Memphis (12-1) | — |
| 16 | Boise State (12-1) | — |
| 17 | Michigan (9-3) | — |
| 18 | Minnesota (10-2) | — |
| 19 | Navy (9-2) | — |
| 20 | Iowa (9-3) | — |
| 21 | App State (12-1) | — |
| 22 | SMU (10-2) | +1 |
| 23 | FAU (10-3) | NR |
| 24 | Cincinnati (10-3) | -2 |
| 25 | Kansas State (8-4) | NR |
Moved in: FAU, Kansas State
Dropped out: Louisiana, Virginia
