Four of the five power conferences had at least two teams — including several that have lost a game — ahead of Memphis. (One, No. 4 Alabama, lost to Ole Miss.) Unlike Memphis, many of those teams may have their most impressive wins ahead of them.

“The victory over Ole Miss and Ole Miss’s subsequent victory over Alabama really helped move Memphis into that consideration” of being ranked higher than No. 13, Jeff Long, the selection committee chairman, said in a conference call.

The playoff is owned by the 10 conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision (as well as Notre Dame, which is independent). They signed a $7.3 billion deal with ESPN to broadcast the playoff and associated bowl games for 12 years. All 128 F.B.S. teams may qualify.

During negotiations, the so-called Group of Five conferences — less prominent ones like the A.A.C. — received one automatic berth: If their highest-ranked conference champion does not make the playoff, it is placed in another playoff-affiliated bowl game. Last year, Boise State, the Mountain West champion, played in the Fiesta Bowl.

It is difficult not to notice certain structural inequities. For instance, the initial 13-member selection committee contained one athletic director from each of the five major conferences (Southern California’s Pat Haden is not participating because of his health); the chairman, Long, is the athletic director at Arkansas, of the SEC.

And there is no getting around the higher profiles that many of the blue-chip teams from major conferences like Alabama and Ohio State enjoy.

That prestige could be seen in the introduction to ESPN’s broadcast of the releasing of the rankings Tuesday night. An animation showed two billboards with conference logos: In the foreground was a power conference’s; in the background was one belonging to a Group of Five conference. An announcer mentioned metrics the committee could weigh: “Strength of schedule. Early-season losses. Power of conferences. And pedigree of programs.” (In fact, program pedigree is not listed as a metric for the committee to consider.)