Status quo for top four in CFP rankings. But after that ...

The fact the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings remained the same for the third straight week Tuesday night did not quite qualify as news.

Georgia is once again No. 1, followed by Ohio State at No. 2, Michigan at No. 3, and TCU at No. 4.

After that is where it gets interesting.

With Tennessee's loss to South Carolina, LSU jumped to No. 5, which seems to open the door for the Tigers to advance to the playoffs as the first two-loss team, should they beat Georgia in the SEC Championship.

Southern Cal is No. 6, followed by Alabama at No. 7 and one-loss Clemson at No. 8.

Clemson's spot in the ranking compared to LSU was one of the hot topics of conversation with CFP Chairman Boo Corrigan, who told reporters the reason was simple.

"We're looking for growth during the course of the season, and LSU since that loss to Florida State and the way they've played and the way they've continued to improve, the win over Alabama, and the convincing win over Mississippi are two things that we've really looked at," Corrigan said. "With regard to Clemson, yeah, it does matter. Six and one against teams over .500; the two ranked teams are in there. But as we looked at it comparable to the Notre Dame loss in South Bend 35-14, and how that game kind of went down, as each member of the committee who was watching it and studying it, and looking at everything—came back with the conclusion that we saw LSU at 5 and Clemson at 8."

Corrigan declined to speculate how far Clemson might move should it beat South Carolina this weekend and win the ACC Championship next week.

"You know, protocol, conference championships are part of what we talk about, so from that standpoint, clearly, I'm not going to project forward as it relates to that," Corrigan said. "Again, I know this can sound repetitive, but in watching them, you're looking for something that makes them different, makes them stand out. In that respect, Coach (Dabo) Swinney has done a great job again this year with his team, but the committee views them as the No. 8 team."

Corrigan was also questioned as to why a one-loss Southern Cal team found itself a spot behind LSU.

"We talked a lot about it, is what I would say before anything else, and made sure that it wasn't a single conversation. It came up over and over again to make sure, and there are reasons for both teams," Corrigan said. "But the committee at the end of the day saw the wins over Alabama and Mississippi as stronger than the wins over UCLA and Oregon State."

More change will be coming with the conclusion of this weekend's game. Michigan and Ohio State meet in their annual grudge match, while Southern Cal faces a must-win situation with its contest against Notre Dame.

"When you look at the balance of Ohio State, the balance of Michigan, TCU is 8-0 against teams above .500, which is really impressive, and it's been impressive to the committee," Corrigan said. "But again, as we look at their ability to come back in games where to a large degree Ohio State and Michigan have not, and as I said last week, that win over Notre Dame by Ohio State is an impressive second win on top of the Penn State win."