Michigan State is on the outside looking in in the initial College Football Playoff Comittee Top 25 rankings, while three teams from the SEC West are in the top four.

MSU is ranked  No. 8 in the first rankings from the committee. Undefeated Mississippi State is No. 1, followed by defending national champion Florida State at No. 2, Auburn at No. 3 and Ole Miss at No. 4.

Oregon, which beat MSU in September, is fifth. Alabama is No. 6, and TCU is one spot ahead of MSU at No. 7. Notre Dame, whose only loss came in a close game in Tallahassee, is 10th.

Only two other Big Ten teams made the rankings: Nebraska at No. 15 and Ohio State at No. 16.

The College Football Playoff Committee consists of 12 members, including: athletic directors like Barry Alvarez of Wisconsin, Oliver Luck of West Virginia; former coaches like Tom Osborne and Tyrone Willingham; and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, among others. Former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning has taken a leave of absence from the committee for the season due to a medical issue.

The committee will release rankings weekly until it selects the final four playoff teams on Dec. 7 after the regular season and conference championship games have concluded. The committee will seed those four teams for a tournament to decide the national championship.

You can see the full rankings here and read more about the committee and its procedures here.

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