Upon seeing the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings, there’s no doubt that many fans’ first impressions had something to do with the SEC having three of the top four and four of the top six teams. I get that.

But a few other things jumped out to me that might give us some insight to the selection committee’s deliberations and could be a sign of things to expect in future weeks.

1. No bias toward recent results

The committee seems to be looking at the entire body of work for these teams and was not overly influenced by what happened most recently.

No. 3 Auburn just had a narrow, seven-point win at home against a mediocre South Carolina team in which it allowed 35 points and more than 500 yards. No. 4 Ole Miss just scored only seven points in a loss to an LSU team that wasn’t ranked in the top 20. The polls typically downgrade teams immediately after performances like these, especially a loss, but in order for these teams to have these respective rankings, the committee must have placed just as much importance on what happened in the first eight weeks of the season. That’s a good thing.

If this is an accurate observation and not merely a coincidence, then it’s possible that a late-season loss to a quality opponent might not be as damaging in the playoff era as it often was when the polls had a great influence on the national championship race.