Auburn vs Mississippi State Football

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn signals in the first quarter against Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

(MARK ALMOND)

AUBURN, Alabama -- Auburn sits at No. 6 in the AP poll, No. 7 in the coaches' poll.

The poll that matters most hasn't been released yet.

On Oct. 28, the College Football Playoff Committee will release its rankings at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN, the first indicator of what the 13-member committee is thinking as it prepares to select the first four participants for the playoff.

Even when that poll is released, though, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn doesn't plan to keep a close eye on it, at least not for a while.

"You know, I hadn't really got that far to even think about that," Malzahn said. "Towards the end of the year, obviously, that's when you really start thinking about stuff."

Auburn's coaching staff, from Malzahn on down, has been vocal about ignoring the rankings as much as possible.

"The rankings this time of year are really, you know, I mean they're just there for someone to fall, to be honest with you," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said before the Tigers played Mississippi State.

At the halfway point, Auburn (5-1, 2-1 SEC) is clearly one of the best-regarded one-loss teams in the nation, but Malzahn and his staff keep telling the Tigers there's a lot of football left to be played.

Fourteen teams were undefeated at this point last season, and Auburn still came back from a loss to earn a spot in the national title game.

Now, in a season of upheaval, only six teams remain unblemished, and it's likely that the polls have a lot more reordering to do before the College Football Playoff committee issues its all-important selections on Dec. 7.

"You've got to take care of your own business, or it doesn't matter," Malzahn said. "We just told our players that all these polls and stuff, they don't matter until late in the year. If we're fortunate enough to keep winning, we'll be in that mix."