The week 13 college football slate was not very exciting, so let’s just get straight to the updated rankings:

Florida State is down at #17. In some ways, the Seminoles remind you of the 2012 Notre Dame squad that went undefeated in the regular season but was never quite as “good” as its record. That year, the Irish won several close games against bad teams, but in retrospect, even they were a better team than the 2014 Seminoles. When Notre Dame ran its record to 11-0, the Irish ranked 6th in the SRS; sure, they were not the top team in college football, but at least they were in the top ten.

So what gives with Florida State? Why are they 17th in the SRS? The table below shows the single-game SRS performances from FSU this year:

FSU’s rating is dragged down a bit by a game against The Citadel, but that’s true of most teams who have faced FCS schools. FSU was up 34-0 at the end of the third quarter, so the 25-point win may be slightly misleading, but that game isn’t what’s killing the team’s rating. If we remove it, FSU’s SRS would rise to 52.7, which would… still rank 17th.

• Yesterday, Florida State escaped a home contest against Boston College with a last-second field goal. A three-point home win implies that the teams are roughly equivalent: that’s a bad thing when your opponent is the 46th best team in the country. Boston College lost by 19 at home to Louisville, by 10 at home to Pittsburgh, and lost by 3 at home to Colorado State.

• On opening weekend, the Seminoles beat Oklahoma State, 37-31. As it turns out, the Cowboys are terrible. OSU has lost by 21 at home to Texas and by 24 at home to West Virginia; even uglier, the Cowboys lost by 34 on the road against Kansas State and 33 in Forth Worth against TCU. Remember that the Horned Frogs have just one loss, and it came against an excellent Baylor team, while the best team on the Seminoles schedule is #28 Louisville. Put it this way: if TCU played Florida State’s schedule, is there reason to think TCU would not have an undefeated record right now? And probably look better in the process?

• Notre Dame is the 34th best team this year, and FSU won in the final seconds (and in controversial fashion) against the Irish in Tallahassee. Notre Dame lost at home to Northwestern and Louisville, and lost on the road against Arizona State by 24 points. The best team Notre Dame has beaten this year is Stanford, which also came on a last-second touchdown at home.

• In seven of FSU’s ten games against FBS competition, FSU has produced a score of between 53.3 and 55.6, which is remarkably consistent. However, it’s also right in line with the team being a top 15, but not a top 10 team, at least predictively. Fortunately for the Seminoles, by not facing a single top 25 team this year, FSU has been able to play at a top-15 (but not top-10) level and go undefeated.

Regardless, the Seminoles look destined for a spot in the playoffs. FSU hosts Florida this weekend, and we can assume that the Gators will play well early, jump out to a 16-7 lead, and wind up losing 17-16. As for the other three spots in the playoffs?

• Alabama controls its own destiny, but games against Auburn and either Georgia or Missouri (if Arkansas beats the Tigers next week, that would swing the SEC East to Georgia) will not be easy. In particular, if UGA makes it to Atlanta, I’d say that Bama has a less than 50% chance of getting to 12-1.

• Oregon remains in great shape: the Ducks will have to beat Oregon State and the Pac-12 South champion, but Oregon is going to be big favorites in both games.

• The TCU/Baylor question is still out there: expect TCU to be ranked higher again this week, but the Bears get Kansas State in two weeks. The real question will be who will be ranked higher in both TCU and Baylor win out, but it’s still a bit premature to ask that question.

• The SEC West has taken it on the chin over the past two weeks, with Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State all losing. As a result, I think we are set up right now for a very “clean” playoffs debate: Alabama as SEC Champ, Oregon as Pac-12 Champ, FSU as ACC Champ, and either TCU or Baylor as Big 12 Champ. But what happens if there is a slip up? Who is on deck? That’s where it gets really interesting.

• If one of Baylor/TCU slips up, obviously the other is in great position. But could *both* schools get in? If say, Oregon or Florida State fall in their title games, would that open the door for both Big 12 teams to rank in the top 4? Perhaps, although I think the committee would actively fight against that.

• Ohio State’s resume is still unimpressive, but if the Buckeyes can beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship Game, that would certainly help matters. Personally, I don’t see a way that OSU is one of the top 4 teams in the country, but they could very well be next in line.

• Mississippi State is also knocking on the door. If Alabama loses to Auburn, MSU will win the SEC West. But even if that doesn’t happen, could MSU make it into the playoffs if say, Florida beat Florida State? A battle between Mississippi State and Ohio State would be fascinating: it’s kind of mind-boggling to imagine a tie going to Mississippi State over Ohio State in any scenario, given the schools’ respective histories, but an 11-1 season in the SEC West would certainly be more “impressive” than a 12-1 year in the Big 10.

Finally, let’s close with a look at every game this year:

As always, you can check out the SRS game scores from every game this year at this page.