My Preferences for the 2015 College Football Playoffs

Up until last Saturday night's debacle against cross-state rivals Florida State, I was closely following the late-season college football games affecting top-ranked teams.  My goal in this was to "will" the schools that were ranked higher than the University of Florida in the polls to lose, giving the Gators a better chance at making the four-team championship playoffs.  This all, of course, hinged on Florida somehow winning both against FSU and in next Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game.  But recently my Gators have essentially been "half-gators", with only the defensive half of the team playing at championship level.  That was sadly also the case in the contest with the Seminoles, with the Tallahassee team winning 27-2.  But now that any hope of Florida contending for the national championship, with their 10-2 record (and #18 ranking), has ended, I have now been freed to root for the rest of the top teams based on my preferences instead of calculating which ones threatened the Gators' chances the most.  So now...

So now I'm looking at the rankings and I see some teams I like...and some I traditionally loathe.  Right now, in ranking order, it's Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Iowa going to the playoffs were the season to end right now.  But since we have one more weekend, loaded with conference championship playoffs (including severe underdog Florida against Alabama in the SEC), that picture is likely to change.  North Carolina could upset Clemson in the ACC and Iowa will probably (at least I hope) lose to Michigan State in the Big Ten.  Oklahoma won the Big 12 title in a conference without a playoff...chances are they already have a playoff spot reserved for themselves...unfortunately...since they're one of the teams I usually vehemently root against.  And further on the outside in the rankings are Ohio State, and Stanford.  Ohio State won't play next weekend either, since they were eliminated in the regular season for the Big Ten title by Michigan State.  But all this aside, what are my preferences among the possible teams still in the playoff hunt? Here are MY rankings by preference:

1 Michigan State
2 Clemson
3 North Carolina (assuming beating Clemson gives them a spot...a stretch)
4 Iowa
5 Stanford (very unlikely to make the playoffs)
6 Ohio State
7 Oklahoma
8 (easily my least favorite) Alabama