“If you’re inside of that top 12 or so, and you’re projected to be in (the CFP bracket), it would be very alarming for you to be moved out because you played an extra game while everyone else is sitting home,” Phillips declared in an interview on SiriusXM radio Monday. “… You cannot and should not be penalized for having to play a 13th game after a very long season. So, we’ll see how that plays out, but I’m very confident that the committee is going to stand by what they’ve told us.”

It’s clear, after Week 14 losses by Ohio State and Miami, that the final top 25 rankings before the first 12-team bracket is officially revealed on Sunday, carry a significant amount of weight to the movers and shakers in the sport. What will the CFP selection committee do with all those three-loss SEC teams? Can SMU lose in the ACC championship game and still make the bracket? Who’s going to get those final at-large berths?

We’ll have a better sense of those answers after Tuesday night. As you wait, here are national projections and predictions about what the rankings and playoff bracket might look like, as well as information on the 12-team playoff and how to watch the rankings release show: