College Football Playoff Contenders in Action

College football powers head into the weekend with a better idea of where they stand now that the first of the College Football Playoff rankings are out.

Three of the top four see action today with two of them squaring off.

Fourth-ranked Auburn hits the road to face No. 7 Mississippi in a showdown for postseason positioning. Both have lost once this season and tonight's loser can likely forget about national championship consideration. The 6-1 Tigers are No. 3 in the CFP rankings, while 7-1 Mississippi is fourth.

The Rebels lost to LSU last week but still sport the nation's top scoring defense. The Tigers are averaging 39.3 points a game and have the SEC's top running game, fueled by quarterback Nick Marshall and tailback Cameron Artis-Payne.

Top-ranked Mississippi State hits the home field against Arkansas riding a 10-game winning streak. Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott was hobbled in the game against Kentucky last week. He's been in a walking boot for part of the week but says he's good to go today. The 4-6 Razorbacks also like to run the ball and in Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins boast two of the top four rushers in the SEC.

Oregon and Notre Dame are poised to move up in the postseason derby.

The fifth-ranked Ducks host Stanford in a pivotal Pac-12 match-up. The past two seasons the Cardinal has quashed Oregon's national championship hopes with victories. Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner Marcus Mariotta (mehr-ee-OH'-tah) is looking for his first win over 5-3 Stanford. He's thrown for 2,283 yards with 24 touchdowns and only one interception this season.

The sixth-ranked Fighting Irish will extend the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in football when they take on Navy in suburban Washington, D.C. Notre Dame is 6-1 behind the quarterbacking of Evertt Golson, who has thrown for 1,996 yards and 19 touchdowns. Keenan Reynolds guides the triple-option offense for Navy, which enters the game 4-4.

There are 15 games involving 19 ranked teams on the top 25 schedule.