The College Football Playoff released its latest set of rankings, and these carry a bit more importance because they're the last set before the ones that really matter.

Or the only ones that matter, depending on how you want to look at it.

Not much changed this week, as everybody in the top 10 last week won save for Michigan, and the Wolverines fell to No. 5, opening up a space for Washington to climb in.

So what does the committee have right, and what does it have wrong? Let's break it down.

No. 7 Penn State -- Underrated

The committee has said a lot of things about what it considers over the last three seasons. They've talked about game control, resumes, head-to-head results and teams improving as the season went on. Yet for some reason, when it comes to Penn State, the committee doesn't seem to pay any attention to these things.

It's still hung up on the team's two early-season losses -- one to No. 5 Michigan by 39 points and a three-point loss on the road to a Pitt team that's now ranked No. 25. The same Pitt team that beat Clemson.

Well, the Penn State of today is not the Penn State that lost those two games earlier this season. Over the last five or six weeks, you can make a very strong argument that Penn State has been playing better than any other team in the Big Ten. It's won its last six games by an average of 25.7 points, and that includes a three-point win over No. 2 Ohio State.

Yet, according to the committee, this doesn't mean much when comparing Penn State to a Michigan team that's lost two of its last three games with a 10-point win over Indiana sandwiched in between. It doesn't mean enough when comparing it to a Wisconsin team that now only has one win over a team in the rankings, No. 21 LSU.

The good news for Penn State is that it has a chance to prove itself on the field against Wisconsin this week. If it can win that game, it should be enough to vault it ahead of the Badgers and Wolverines. Of course, we can't be sure of that seeing as how Penn State's win over Ohio State doesn't seem to mean anything to the committee.

No. 12 Florida State -- Overrated

The Seminoles are overrated, but not by much. My only beef here is that a 9-3 Florida State is ranked a spot ahead of a 9-3 Louisville team that beat it by 43 points.

Let me repeat that to be clear: Florida State, which has the same exact record as Louisville, is ranked ahead of Louisville even though Louisville beat the Noles by 43 points. Not a last second field goal. Not by a touchdown.

By 43 points. Forty. Three. Points.

Nobody in that room found this to be problematic?

No. 17 Western Michigan -- Just right

The number next to Western Michigan's name doesn't mean anything because it's not like it has ever had a chance to make the top four. All that matters is how many Group of Five teams are ranked ahead of Western Michigan, and this week there aren't any.

And that's just the way it should be.

Navy, a very good team, is two spots behind the Broncos. Temple is another good team that will be playing Navy this weekend for the American Athletic Conference title. In the Mountain West, it's Wyoming and San Diego State playing for a conference title.

These are all fine teams, but none of them deserves to be ranked ahead of Western Michigan should the Broncos win the MAC on Friday night. Navy would have a case if it had only one loss, but it has two, and an undefeated Western Michigan with two wins over Power Five teams deserves to be rewarded with a Cotton Bowl berth should it finish 13-0.

No. 22 Tennessee -- Overrated

Seriously?

Last week, LSU dropped from No. 16 to unranked after losing by six points to a ranked Florida team, but Tennessee only drops five spots after losing to unranked Vanderbilt?

Maybe I'm crazy, but I just think that a team with two wins over ranked teams shouldn't get to stay in the top 25 when three of its four losses are to unranked teams, two of which are 6-6.

Iowa -- Underrated

You know who I would put in over Tennessee? Iowa. I wouldn't put it as high as No. 22 or anything, but I'd put it at No. 25 ahead of the Volunteers.

This is an Iowa team with four losses just like Tennessee, and I guess that loss earlier this year to the perennial FCS powerhouse that is North Dakota State is just too much to overcome. That's a shame, in my opinion, because the Bison are a good team, and that loss alone shouldn't erase the face that two of Iowa's losses came against No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Penn State. Or that Iowa beat No. 5 Michigan, and a Nebraska team that had been ranked No. 16 by 30 points last week.

So beating a team the committee considered No. 16 by 30 points isn't good enough to warrant a spot in the rankings, but losing to 6-6 Vanderbilt is fine.