They do stuff like this every year:
2014 - TCU was #3, blew out Iowa State the last day by 52 points, and suddenly dropped below Baylor.
Stated reason: well, Baylor beat TCU head-to-head. YES - as had been true since the first polls when they WERE NOT ahead of TCU.
2015 - Oklahoma is #3 and......drops to #4 in the last poll, changing their matchup from us to Clemson. Sparty, ranked #5, moves to three.
2017 - "spots 4 through 8 are paper thin." Games are played. Same people after the games: "oh, it was never really very close."
2019 - two-loss Oregon beats Utah, 37-15, for the Pac-12 title and pole vaults from 13 to 6. In the process, they leap over #11 Auburn, who beat Oregon, 27-21, in the opener and whose 3 losses were to #1, #5 and #9 while Oregon's second loss was to 8-5 Arizona St. The week before - despite the 3-2 loss deficit for Auburn - the Tigers had been ranked to spots ahead of Oregon because of head-to-head. They also leap Alabama, whose two losses were to #1 LSU and #12 Auburn. Apparently, the head-to-head suddenly didn't matter because "they beat Utah and won their conference and had fewer losses," but it's seems arbitrary to give Oregon a pass on head-to-head for a six-point loss but not Alabama for a three-point loss.
2022 - TCU loses the conference title to Kansas State while ranked #3. They don't drop at all, using the logic of "we're not going to punish them for losing a rematch." Didn't even drop them one spot, which would have been justifiable.
2023 - Alabama pole vaults from #8 to #3 thanks to ending Georgia's 29-game unbeaten streak and leaving Florida State to cry about the injustice. Asked to comment, the committee says it's because the Seminoles would be playing without their QB. This excuse is fine, I guess, except Jordan Travis went out for good in the North Alabama game and the Noles dropped one spot and then regained it over the next two weeks. You'd think if this was an acceptable excuse, they'd have been dropped earlier.
