The Clemson Tigers are No. 1 in the first ranking of the season that actually matters

Clemson was ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff committee Top 25, released Tuesday night. Given the remainder of the poll, it makes sense. The Tigers are undefeated, they now have the best win of the year (over No. 5 Notre Dame), and they are excellent on both sides of the ball.

The Year of Dabo continues unabated, and since the Playoff rankings now overtake the AP’s, we have a new national No. 1. It’s the first time the Tigers have been at the top since their 1981 national championship.

The rest of the top four: LSU, Ohio State, Alabama. Baylor rounds out the top six.

The REAL (read: SB Nation) Selection Committee ... did pretty much the same thing as those impostors who actually choose the bracket, only without as much Notre Dame. Baylor and Alabama tied for the final spot.

Crash on re-entry. Just hours after making an appearance in the Playoff 25, undefeated Toledo ran into the buzzsaw that is the Northern Illinois Huskies and lost 32-27. The Rockets’ crash leaves 10 unbeaten teams in FBS.

Is Mark Richt in trouble? Probably. The Georgia offense is inept on a historical level. But even with that, Bill Connelly says he really shouldn’t be fired. That and tons more that you don’t yet know in The Numerical. And if Richt leaves Georgia, could he land at Maryland?

Charlie Strong said the word “Miami” out of nowhere. Texas fans stress out over whether that’s just a weird slip of the tongue or a sign he’s totally gone, because things are bad in Austin.

Yes, Arizona State steals signs. Yes, everyone else does, too. This isn’t baseball.

You don’t need Todd Graham to see this secret. Oklahoma doesn’t want to say that a Bob Stoops statue is on the way, a position compromised when a guy is driving around with the statue in the back of his truck.

If you want a crash course in playoff selection theory, this week’s Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody is for you.

It’s elementary. Somehow lost in Clemson’s move to the top of the polls is an appreciation of just how good its QB, Deshaun Watson, has been. Throwing for 383 yards and a 76.7 percent completion rate against a top-30 defense is usually the stuff of Heisman candidates.

Charity starts at home. Remember when Leonard Fournette ran into roadblocks when he tried to donate his game jersey from the LSU-South Carolina game to flood relief in South Carolina? The auction is set, and it includes signed helmets from Les Miles and the Head Ball Coach.

Blue chip running back Kareem Walker drops Ohio State, and could he be headed to the Bucks’ archrival?

Nooooope. Nope. Nope. Nope. The U should absolutely not give back its win over Duke just because it was due to mere refereeing incompetence. It’s the ACC. Refereeing incompetence decides roughly 65 percent of its games.

It’s certainly the most Harbaugh-y Coaching Clinic of All Time. John Harbaugh and Jim Harbaugh are holding a coaching camp at the Big House that they have humbly dubbed “THE GREATEST COACHING CLINIC OF ALL TIME.“

In a move out of the script of Stripes 2, Army blocked Air Force on Twitter this week in preparation for their game Saturday.

“Just imagine what Iowa State would do to Oklahoma.” Yep, Even though his IRL counterpart is giving up signatures for charity, Hatin’ Ass Spurrier is back.