College football teams are on pace to go for it on fourth down rather than punt or attempt a field goal more often than in any in the past 10 seasons and probably ever. Teams also are converting at the highest rate.

Two of the three matchups of Associated Press Top 25 teams in Week 12 of the college football season take place in the Southeastern Conference, and the tightly bunched Atlantic Coast Conference and American Conference races should start untangling.

Not surprisingly, Ohio State stayed at the top of the rankings, and there was a healthy debate about whether last weekend’s action warranted keeping Indiana at No. 2, one spot ahead of Texas A&M.

Instead of simply pushing for a limited number of automatic qualifiers in the next version of the College Football Playoff, leaders in the Southeastern Conference are now suggesting they don’t want any at all.