Who’ll be No. 1 in 2015’s first College Football Playoff rankings?

The Playoff rankings are back tonight around 7 p.m. ET. We’ve already had one member of the College Football Playoff committee step down, and there could be up to three more members recusing themselves frequently because of their ties to top-ranked schools. Let’s get a refresher on how the committee actually works.

That committee could have a very tough decision on its hands this year, as there’s double the number of undefeated teams that you’d normally expect.

Who’ll top the rankings? Based on this combo of polls and computers and what we know about the committee’s stats, the best guesses include Clemson, LSU and Ohio State. But the committee’s not the BCS, so there’s no good way to know yet.

It’s complicated. We knew J.T. Barrett was suspended as a result of his OVI citation, but another part of the star quarterback’s punishment is losing his scholarship for a term. It’s complicated, though.

We cannot take the scholarship. When coach referenced taking scholarship he was referencing summer aid, which is discretionary. So J.T. will lose his summer aid next year. He lives off campus so he would not receive a scholarship aid check that he typically would use to cover rent and food, and he would be required to pay his own tuition and books.

So, since Ohio State can’t take Barrett’s regular scholarship money, it can take his money that would go toward his summer term. That summer term is technically “discretionary,” but the next star quarterback at a major football program to just skip town all summer would be the first.

This sport is so strange.

Let’s go. November is here, and the big games that will decide the season are about to happen this month. September and October are great, but as of now, they are merely prologue. This is going to be fun.

Take a look back. Our Virginia blog has an oral history of the Cavaliers’ huge upset over Florida State in November of 1995.

Agree to disagree. Charlie Strong said that Texas’ 24-0 loss to Iowa State was not embarrassing. Texas players seemed to disagree with that assessment.

Stealing is bad. Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost accused Arizona State of trying to steal the Ducks’ offensive signals. You’ll remember that the Oregon sideline used a bunch of sheets to try to block out the people on the sideline relaying signals, and you’ll also remember that Utah accused Arizona State of the same thing last month.

Take another look. Now that the nation has had a few weeks to think about the possibility of an undefeated Iowa, a closer look at the Hawkeyes’ resume reveals ... they’re actually damn good.

In appreciation. A heartfelt letter from our Virginia Tech blog to the soon-to-be-retired Frank Beamer.

I’m confused. Miami’s Corn Elder was named the ACC special teams Player of the Week. The play, which garnered him such an honor, was deemed to have been ruled a touchdown in error. This is all very good.

Stay or go? On the heels of Georgia’s latest loss to Florida, the heat is once again squarely on Mark Richt’s posterior. Here’s the case both for and against giving him the boot after 15 years in Athens.

And if Richt (1) does leave Georgia, and (2) wants to keep coaching, what are the chances he would go to Maryland?

POP QUIZ. You’re a Kansas student who’s really turned up about the Royals winning the World Series? What do you do? Time’s up. The answer is “tear down the KU goalposts and throw them in a lake.”

That’s just science. Jim Harbaugh considers the following things steroids:

1. A good night’s sleep
2. Whole milk
3. Water
4. Steak

Sure thing, coach.