Judging the 12-team CFP rankings debut, plus NFL trade deadline takeaways

The Pulse Newsletter ???? | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning. Here are some other things going on in the world. A small group of powerful people toiled last night to decide the new direction of college football. And now, we have our first official 12-team College Football Playoff rankings, which would yield the following bracket if the season ended today: A few thoughts here: We have a legit CFP elimination game this weekend in Baton Rouge, where No. 11 Alabama (6-2) plays No. 15 LSU (6-2). With...