The fifth set of College Football Playoff rankings have been released

The picture continues to get clearer and clearer as we progress through the college football season, but for some teams it is as murky as ever. The Pac-12 conference now appears to be out of the CFP discussion now that every team has suffered at least two losses, but many other conferences are still in the race. A reminder that the polls will continue to come out every Tuesday night on ESPN leading up to the reveal of which four teams are headed to the CFP on December 31st. Without further ado, let's take a look at the rankings.

Top Four

1. Clemson -- the biggest matchup of the season for the Tigers comes this weekend against the North Carolina Tar Heels

2. Alabama -- the Crimson Tide seem like a lock to make the CFP, but what if they lose to Florida in the SEC championship?

3. Oklahoma -- the Sooners won the Big Twelve championship this past weekend and are sitting pretty in third place

4. Iowa -- the Hawkeyes just finished the best regular season in school history, but their year isn't over yet

"First Four Out"

5. Michigan State -- the Spartans destroyed Penn State this past weekend and will play Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game

6. Ohio State -- the Buckeyes dispatched Michigan this past Saturday but will not compete for a Big Ten Championship

7. Stanford -- the Cardinal beat the team ranked directly below them and have a chance to win the Pac-12 on Saturday

8. Notre Dame -- the Fighting Irish have piled up the wins, but their schedule is weak compared to the other top teams

The Rest of the Pack

And here's a visual of what the Playoff bracket currently looks like:

What do you think of this week's edition of CFP rankings? Drop by in the comments below to give us your thoughts!