igh conference championships like a tiebreaker.If Washington wins out, the Huskies shr the

Texas A&M was ranked fourth behind Alabama, Clemson and Michigan in the seasons first College Football Playoff rankings.The Aggies (7-1) surprisingly were a spot ahead of unbeaten Washington on Tuesday in the first of six selection committee rankings. The Crimson Tide (8-0), Tigers (8-0), Wolverines (8-0) and Huskies (8-0) are the only remaining undefeated teams from Power Five conferences and hold the top four spots in the latest Associated Press poll .The 12-person committee, however, gave a nod to Texas A&Ms strength of schedule.Ohio State was sixth and Louisville was seventh.In the first two seasons of the College Football Playoff, only one team each season made the committees initial top four and the final four.The final rankings will be released Dec. 4, with the top four teams moving on to the College Football Playoff semifinals on Dec. 31 at the Fiesta and Peach bowls.A look at what matters in the rankings and what they mean moving forward:DONT PANIC HUSKIESSelection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt, Texas Techs athletic director who is now in the role that Arkansas AD Jeff Long held the firsts two seasons of the CFP, made it very clear that Texas A&Ms four victories against teams with winning records (Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee and South Carolina -- though it should be noted the Gamecocks are 4-4) provided the margin over Washington. The Huskies have two such victories.We had a lengthy discussion on the spot, Hocutt said. Washington is a well-balanced team and they had a good win on the road against Utah. But in the committees mind Texas A&M has played a stronger schedule.The good news is there is room for the Huskies to grow. Washington still has USC and Washington State on its schedule and a possible Pac-12 championship game, which could be against Utah (16th in the committees rankings), Colorado (15th) or USC, which would need a strong finish to get there. A big stretch run by Stanford would also help the Huskies.Oregon being terrible is hurting the Huskies, who are getting little credit for pounding the Ducks. Another reason for Washington fans to hate Oregon.Most important is this: The Huskies control their path to a Pac-12 championship and Texas A&M does not. The Aggies will need Alabama to lose at least a couple of times to reach the Southeastern Conference championship game.The committee is told when considering similar teams to weigh conference championships like a tiebreaker.If Washington wins out, the Huskies should be fine to get into the top four. If they win the Pac-12 but lose once along the way, it could get a little dicey for the Huskies when matched against an 11-1 A&M team that has lost only to Alabama.A prediction: If it comes down to Pac-12 champion Washington at 12-1 and Texas A&M at 11-1, the Huskies will get that spot. Now if Alabama were to be the team 11-1 instead of A&M that would be a different story.CARDINALS MAYBE SHOULD PANICLouisville will need two losses from Clemson to have a chance to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Because that is probably not happening, the Cardinals are hoping to be impressive enough to get into the top four without a conference title.The first rankings do not look promising for the Cardinals.Hocutt again cited strength of schedule when talking about Louisville. The Cardinals only victory against a winning team was against Florida State. That was a 63-20 win that very well might rate as the best singular performance by any team this season. The Cardinals next most notable game was a close loss at Clemson.Want to call out the committee? Michigan at No. 3 is benefiting from home victories against eighth-ranked Wisconsin, Colorado and Penn State, No. 12 in the rankings thanks to upsetting Ohio State. However, using the Sagarin Computer ratings, Michigans strength of schedule is 49th in the nation. Louisvilles is 52nd. Washington is 69th.The Cardinals have games remaining against Wake Forest, Houston and Kentucky, all winning teams but none ranked.The takeaway for Louisville: The Cardinals will need a ton of help to get in the playoff.MARGIN OF VICTORYHocutt pointed out the committee does not look at margin of victory, which is sort of ridiculous.The conference commissioners who set up the playoff protocol get hung up on the idea of not encouraging teams to run up the score, so there is no margin of victory metric. But there is no way the committee can evaluate teams properly while looking only at a W or L and not the final score.GROUP OF FIVEUnbeaten Western Michigan at No. 23 is the highest ranked team from the Group of Five, just ahead of Boise State at 24. The Broncos probably cant afford even one loss, but if they can make a perfect run to a Mid-American Conference title, a Cotton Bowl bid likely awaits. Cheap Jordans From China . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Cheap Wholesale Jordans China . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. http://www.cheapwholesalejordans.com/ . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Discount Jordans From China . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Wholesale Cheap Jordans For Sale . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Indias SSP Chawrasia was left to rue bogeys on the final two holes, as he scored 2-under 69 in the third round of the mens individual event in Rio on Saturday. At the end of round three, Chawrasia was in tied-22nd place.Chawrasias compatriot Anirban Lahiri registered his third successive over-par score, shooting 4-over 75, to virtually rule himself out of contention for a medal. Lahiri was tied-57th at the end of round three.Chawrasias start was explosive, with birdies on the 604-yard par-five 1st, 547-yard par-five 5th and the 196-yard par-three 6th, before a bogey on the par-four 7th. He would shoot another birdie and a bogey within the next four holes, before successive birdies on the 479-yard par-four 13th and the 229-yard par-three 14th took him up to tied-11th at one stage. He would finish his round with by dropping shots on the 133-yard par-three 17th aand the 571-yard par-five 18th -- taking his overall score to 2-under 211 -- and will now need an exceptional fourth round for a podium finish.ddddddddddddahiri, who teed off earlier, dropped as many as five shots in the front nine while scoring just one birdie on the 351-yard par-four 3rd, before suffering a double bogey on the 191-yard par-three 4th. His overall score dropped to 10-over at one stage when he bogeyed the 229-yard par-three 14th.He would register a birdie on the 303-yard par-four 16th to finish with 9-over 222.Siddikur Rahman, Bangaldeshs first Olympian?also shot 4-over -- scoring bogeys on the 1st, 10th, 12th and the 17th holes -- which took his overall tally to 7-over 220. He was 55th at the end of the third day.? ' ' '