The "cupcake week" portion of the 2017 college football season has come and gone, and with it we received the most uneventful set of College Football Playoff Rankings in the brief history of the standings -- though that's not to say nothing noteworthy happened. With rivalry week ahead and only two more editions of the rankings set to be released ahead of the postseason, these set the stage for what should be an explosive finish.

As predicted earlier Tuesday on CBS Sports, Miami jumped Clemson for the No. 2 spot.  That move was made possible by the fact that Miami came back from 14 down in the third quarter to beat Virginia this week, while Clemson cruised to a win over The Citadel. That was enough of a strength-of-schedule boost to sway the CFP Selection Committee to make the swap. 

If the playoff started today, that would be a battle over uniform color in a semifinal.  As it stands, the two will play each other for the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 2 in a game that will also likely serve as a de facto CFP quarterfinal.  Clemson is the first team this season to drop in the rankings after a win.

The rest of the top 10 held from last week's rankings with Alabama (No. 1) and Oklahoma (No. 4) rounding out the top four as Wisconsin and Auburn sitting as the first two teams out.

Let's take a look at this week's rankings. Keep on scrolling for additional analysis from Jerry Palm.

College Football Playoff Rankings, Nov. 21

  1. Alabama (11-0)
  2. Miami (10-0)
  3. Clemson (10-1)
  4. Oklahoma (10-1)
  5. Wisconsin (11-0)
  6. Auburn (9-2)
  7. Georgia (10-1)
  8. Notre Dame (9-2)
  9. Ohio State (9-2)
  10. Penn State (9-2)
  11. USC (10-2)
  12. TCU (9-2)
  13. Washington State (9-2)
  14. Mississippi State (8-3)
  15. Central Florida (10-0)
  16. Michigan State (8-3)
  17. Washington (9-2)
  18. LSU (8-3)
  19. Oklahoma State (8-3)
  20. Memphis (9-1)
  21. Stanford (8-3)
  22. Northwestern (8-3)
  23. Boise State (9-2)
  24. South Carolina (8-3)
  25. Virginia Tech (8-3)

The committee has made it abundantly clear that it is unimpressed by No. 15 UCF.  The undefeated Knights were jumped by 8-3 Mississippi State, which struggled to beat 4-7 Arkansas last week.  UCF is ranked behind a team with three losses for the first time this season.

Oklahoma State, the only team in the top 15 to lose last week, dropped six spots to No. 19.  The Cowboys have had an odd season in that all three of their losses have come at home. Former No. 19 NC State and No. 24 Michigan dropped out of the rankings following losses to Wake Forest and No. 5 Wisconsin.

Wisconsin also closed the strength of schedule gap with No. 4 Oklahoma, which played Kansas last week.  The Badgers still have some work to do in that regard to cause the committee to boost them past the Sooners.

The only other place in this week's rankings where typical poll slotting did not occur was near the bottom as Stanford jumped Northwestern even though both teams won.  Stanford eked out a 17-14 win over Cal, while the Wildcats blasted Minnesota 39-0.  From a strength-of-schedule perspective, those are similar games, but the Cats were likely hurt by Iowa's loss to Purdue.  Even though Northwestern played both the Hawkeyes and Boilermakers, Iowa is one of the Wildcats' best wins, and now it looks worse in the eyes of the committee.  Wisconsin also suffers for that.

Replacing the Wolfpack and Wolverines in the rankings this week are No. 24 South Carolina and No. 25 Virginia Tech.  Neither of those teams have a win that would grab your attention, but the committee needs to rank 25 teams.  Those are as good of choices as any.