College Football Playoff rankings reaction and 12-team bracket - ESPN

Welcome back to the top spot, Georgia.

The back-to-back national champion is the College Football Playoff selection committee's No. 1 team for the first time this season, usurping No. 2 Ohio State in the third of six rankings. The Bulldogs' resounding 52-17 win against No. 13 Ole Miss on Saturday gave Georgia its second win against a ranked opponent in as many weeks, as they also defeated No. 9 Missouri on Nov. 4.

For the first time this season, Georgia gave the committee the best combination of résumé and eye test, and the SEC East champs will face No. 8 Alabama in the SEC championship game. Georgia's two top-15 wins now trump Ohio State's best wins, which are against No. 12 Penn State and No. 19 Notre Dame.

Georgia's promotion to the top spot was the most noticeable difference in Tuesday's ranking, but the bigger reaction will likely be around what didn't happen. In spite of three wins against ranked opponents, undefeated Washington is still on the bubble at No. 5, looking up at No. 4 and undefeated Florida State.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the third ranking, starting with… wait, what?!

Jump to: What would a 12-team CFP look like?

The question is not meant to detract from undefeated Florida State's perfect season, but if there was a week when the selection committee could have easily justified moving Washington into the top four, this was it. Florida State's résumé pales in comparison, as its lone win against a top-25 opponent was the season-opener against No. 15 LSU.

Washington has defeated the committee's No. 6 and top one-loss team, Oregon, in addition to wins against No. 17 Arizona and No. 22 Utah. Washington is No. 2 in ESPN's strength of record metric, which means the average top-25 team would