The upsets on the penultimate weekend of the college football season created drama around how the playoff rankings, released by the committee Tuesday, would shape the announcement of the 12-team field that is coming in less than a week.
The suspense was centered on how far Ohio State, ranked No. 2 last week, would fall after its loss to Michigan and whether Miami, ranked No. 6 last week, would see its at-large hopes damaged after losing to Syracuse.
The Buckeyes slipped four places to No. 6, slotting ahead of Tennessee, SMU and Indiana. The ranking likely assures Ohio State of hosting a first-round game. The Hurricanes weren’t so lucky. They fell five places to No. 12, behind Alabama but ahead of Mississippi and South Carolina, three three-loss teams from the SEC. It appears the Crimson Tide are in line for an at-large berth should things hold to form.
No. 1 Oregon retained the position it has held since the first rankings on Nov. 5. The Ducks will face No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten championship game. Texas, like the Nittany Lions, moved up one spot to No. 2 and will meet No. 5 Georgia for the SEC title.
No. 4 is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish concluded their season with a win against Southern California last week. They appear in line to host a first-round game with their seeding still unresolved until after championship weekend.
No. 7 Tennessee is followed by SMU and Indiana. Completing the top 10 is Boise State, the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences. The Broncos are 10 places ahead of No. 20 UNLV and will face the Rebels in the Mountain West title game Friday.
Boise State is also ahead of both participants of the Big 12 title game – No. 15 Arizona State and No. 16 Iowa State. Should the Broncos stay ahead of the winner between the Sun Devils and Cyclones, they would earn a first-round bye. They could also get a bye if No. 17 Clemson beats SMU in the ACC championship game.
The conference with the most teams in the rankings is again the SEC with seven after Texas A&M fell out. The Big Ten retains its five teams with No. 21 Illinois coming in after its top four. The Big 12 was reduced to four teams after Kansas State dropped from the rankings. The ACC added No. 22 Syracuse, which knocked off Miami on Saturday, to increase its representation to four teams. The Mountain West holds at two teams along with the American Athletic, which lost Tulane but gained Army and Memphis.
Tuesday’s rankings from the College Football Playoff committee are the last during the regular season. The final rankings will be unveiled on Dec. 8 and establish the 12-team field that will determine this season’s national champion.
What is the College Football Playoff schedule?
First-round games will take place Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 at campus sites, with the higher seeds hosting. The No. 5 seed will play the No. 12 seed, No. 6 faces No. 11, No. 7 matches up with No. 10 and No. 8 meets No. 9.
Winners of those games will advance to the quarterfinals. The Fiesta Bowl will be played on Dec. 31. The Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl will be played Jan. 1.
The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will host the semifinals on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, respectively.
The championship game will be played Jan. 20 in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The schedule based on this week’s rankings would look like this:
First-round games (with seeding)
No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Penn State
No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Notre Dame
No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Georgia
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State
Quarterfinals
Fiesta Bowl: No. 4 Boise State vs. Penn State-Arizona State winner
Peach Bowl: No. 3 SMU vs. Alabama-Notre Dame winner
Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Texas vs. Indiana-Georgia winner
Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. Ohio State-Tennessee winner
College Football Playoff rankings Top 25
1. Oregon (12-0)
2. Texas (11-1)
3. Penn State (11-1)
4. Notre Dame (11-1)
5. Georgia (10-2)
6. Ohio State (10-2)
7. Tennessee (10-2)
8. SMU (11-1)
9. Indiana (11-1)
10. Boise State (11-1)
11. Alabama (9-3)
12. Miami (Fla) (10-2)
13. Mississippi (9-3)
14. South Carolina (9-3)
15. Arizona State (10-2)
16. Iowa State (10-2)
17. Clemson (9-3)
18. Brigham Young (10-2)
19. Missouri (9-3)
20. UNLV (10-2)
21. Illinois (9-3)
22. Syracuse (9-3)
23. Colorado (9-3)
24. Army (10-1)
25. Memphis (10-2)