The Big Ten-heavy top five of the College Football Playoff committee’s rankings stayed the same in the newest iteration released Tuesday night, with Oregon remaining on top after being the first team to reach 11-0.
Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Indiana rounded out the top five for the second straight week, with the undefeated and fifth-ranked Hoosiers set for their biggest test of the season with a visit to No. 2 Ohio State coming this Saturday.
One-loss Notre Dame moved into the sixth spot and Alabama leads a host of 8-2 SEC teams in the next tier. The Crimson Tide rose to No. 7, and after Miami at No. 8 comes Ole Miss, Georgia and Tennessee at Nos. 9-11.
The latest shakeup came after Georgia defeated Tennessee 31-17 this past weekend. The Bulldogs checked in one spot behind Ole Miss – which beat them handily the previous week – and one spot in front of the Volunteers.
Though Tennessee is ranked No. 11, it would be the first team out of the 12-team playoff if the season ended today based on the requirement that the five best conference champions receive automatic bids into the field.
Boise State (9-1) moved up one spot to No. 12, and BYU tumbled to No. 14 after taking its first loss of the season, 17-13 at the hands of Kansas.
But because BYU remains the highest-ranked team from the Big 12, it would make the field as the No. 12 seed and the conference’s only representative. Boise State, as the fourth-highest ranked conference champ, would get the fourth seed and a first-round bye.
Four new teams entered the top 25: No. 21 Arizona State, No. 22 Iowa State, No. 24 UNLV and No. 25 Illinois. Kansas State, Washington State, Louisville and LSU dropped out this week following losses.
CFP projected first-round byes: No. 1 seed Oregon, No. 2 seed Texas, No. 3 seed Miami, No. 4 seed Boise State
CFP projected quarterfinal games (campus sites):
No. 9 seed Alabama at No. 8 seed Notre Dame
No. 10 seed Ole Miss at No. 7 seed Indiana
No. 11 seed Georgia at No. 6 seed Penn State
No. 12 seed BYU at No. 5 seed Ohio State
CFP rankings (different from seeds)
1. Oregon (11-0)
2. Ohio State (9-1)
3. Texas (9-1)
4. Penn State (9-1)
5. Indiana (10-0)
6. Notre Dame (9-1)
7. Alabama (8-2)
8. Miami (9-1)
9. Ole Miss (8-2)
10. Georgia (8-2)
11. Tennessee (8-2)
12. Boise State (9-1)
13. SMU (9-1)
14. BYU (9-1)
15. Texas A&M (8-2)
16. Colorado (8-2)
17. Clemson (8-2)
18. South Carolina (7-3)
19. Army (9-0)
20. Tulane (9-2)
21. Arizona State (8-2)
22. Iowa State (8-2)
23. Missouri (7-3)
24. UNLV (8-2)
25. Illinois (7-3)
–Field Level Media
