In recent years, college football has been rife with teams at the top whose win-loss records did not tell their whole stories. In 2012, Notre Dame received the top Bowl Championship Series seed by virtue of its perfect record, only to be predictably demolished, 42-14, by one-loss Alabama. Last season, 13-0 Florida State secured the No. 3 seed in the final College Football Playoff rankings despite barely beating several so-so teams, and then one-loss Oregon blew them out in the Rose Bowl, 59-20.

Such debates will become extremely relevant two weeks from now, when the playoff selection committee will release its first rankings. The 13 members delve deeply into teams’ performances for two days in a conference room near Dallas before releasing their colored smoke (look for purple, green and multiple shades of red).

But for all the committee’s talk last year of “the full body of work,” “game control” and other jargon, winning percentage ended up the strongest predictor of final ranking. Among major conference teams, the undefeated team led all but two one-loss teams; all 12-1 teams led 11-1 teams; all one-loss teams led two-loss teams; and all two-loss teams led three-loss teams.

So what to do with this season’s crop, which includes No. 1 Ohio State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten), No. 2 Baylor (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), No. 3 Utah (6-0, 3-0 Pacific-12), No. 4 Texas Christian (7-0, 4-0 Big 12), No. 5 Louisiana State (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), No. 6 Clemson (6-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), No. 7 Michigan State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten), No. 9 Florida State (6-0, 4-0 A.C.C.), No. 12 Iowa (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) and No. 14 Oklahoma State (6-0, 3-0 Big 12)? There is at least one in each conference.

Just one of Iowa’s previous and future opponents is currently ranked — No. 25 Pittsburgh. Florida State has played no teams that have been ranked. The combined record of Oklahoma State’s Football Bowl Subdivision adversaries is 12-20.

Such quandaries — and not simply the small number of games — are what college football fans find so exasperating about the four-team playoff. Teams spend most of their seasons playing within the closed confines of their conferences and divisions. This will only become more prevalent in coming seasons as Big Ten teams join those in the Big 12 and the Pac-12 in playing nine conference games, not eight.