Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, November 4, 2014

The release of the first College Football Playoff poll created a stir of sorts last Tuesday, with No. 1 Mississippi State; No. 2 Florida State; No. 3 Auburn; No. 4 Ole Miss taking the top slots.

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Well, we can be assured of change when the second poll is released at 7:30 p.m. ET tonight, with the Rebels falling at home to Auburn on Saturday.

What do I expect the second poll to look like? Look for Mississippi State to remain on top, followed by No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Oregon.

Look for TCU, Alabama, Michigan State, Kansas State and Notre Dame to remain near the top.

TCU can make a good claim to be in the top four this week, but I think it will just miss. The Horned Frogs have a huge game vs. Kansas State this Saturday. TCU already has beaten three ranked teams and had highly-ranked Baylor on the ropes until flopping in the end. Beat highly-ranked KSU, and the Frogs will have a great case to be included next week.

Michigan State has to keep winning, hoping for attrition ahead of it. This weekend?s visit from Ohio State may be the Spartans? last chance to beat a big-time foe before the Big Ten title game.

Still, in the end, it will be interesting to see how the resume of a one-loss Spartan team would compare with other one-loss resumes. No doubt, MSU will benefit from a perception standpoint from Oregon?s continued success.

About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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