Playoff picture: Baylor, Utah, TCU, Ohio State

The College Football Playoff picture is no clearer today than in August, believe it or not. Ohio State and Michigan State — No. 1 and No. 2 in last week's Amway Coaches Poll — struggled with Indiana and Purdue, respectively.

At the same time, Mississippi lost to Florida, UCLA lost to Arizona State, Notre Dame lost to Clemson and Georgia lost to Alabama.

Florida has a pretty good case. The Gators have wins against Kentucky, Tennessee and the Rebels, though topping the Volunteers carries less weight given the way Butch Jones' team has fallen well short of expectations. Alabama looks the part, but there are enough unbeaten options to keep one-loss teams out of the early Playoff mix.

TCU is a no-doubter. So is Baylor. What about Utah? Northwestern, which has one of the nation's best wins, against Stanford? And should one of Ohio State and Michigan State still be in the top four as the Big Ten Conference's representative?

1. Baylor

2. Utah

3. TCU

4. Ohio State

…

5. Clemson

6. Northwestern

GALLERY: AMWAY COACHES POLL