They've played less games with much lower margins of victory, often against teams that have 3 or 4 games total to their season with victories against a 0-5 Penn State buoying their records.

I mean, Northwestern is undefeated, good for them. So are we. We're demolishing teams. Much bigger margins.

They beat ~#30 Iowa by 1 point. We beat a commensurate Boise State ranked ~#31 by 5 touchdowns.

They're beating 1-4 Nebraska by 1 touchdown. Nebraska has only played 4 football games, winning 1 against 0-5 Penn State.

They beat #10 Wisconsin by 10 points. Do you know how many games Wisconsin had played with that #10 ranking? 2. Beating Illinois who are 2-3 (wins against 1-4 Nebraska and 0-5 Penn State) and 2-3 Michigan. #10 in the country. The CFP has Wisconsin at #16, 2 spots behind 9-0 BYU.

If you look at the AP and coaches poll, compared to the CFP rankings, they effectively switched BYU and Northwestern.