Oregon remained in the top spot in the second College Football Playoff rankings, while Georgia dropped out of the bracket after a big loss to Mississippi.
The Ducks were ranked first, followed by Ohio State in second. The Big Ten secured four of the top five positions, with Texas from the Southeastern Conference in third place. Texas would receive a first-round bye if the playoff started today.
Georgia’s 28-10 loss to Ole Miss caused the Bulldogs to fall from third place to 12th. However, they were still the first team out of the bracket because Boise State, ranked 13th, would automatically earn a spot as the Mountain West’s top conference champion.
BYU was ranked sixth but would get a first-round bye if they win out as the Big 12 champion.
The four highest-ranked conference champions receive byes, meaning Miami, despite losing to Georgia Tech and dropping to ninth, would still get a pass into the quarterfinals based on their position in the rankings.
The other ranked teams were: No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama, and No. 11 Ole Miss.
The CFP committee releases updated rankings every week, with the final poll on Dec. 8 deciding the official matchups. The first-round games for the 12-team playoff will take place on Dec. 20-21, with the title game set for Jan. 20.
A lot of attention this week was on Georgia’s nine-place drop and their removal from the playoff picture. While the Bulldogs have two losses, they are considered to have the toughest schedule in college football. However, after the loss to Ole Miss, it was hard to justify ranking Georgia ahead of them.
“Both Alabama and Ole Miss beat them head-to-head,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, who chairs the selection committee.
“As we went through the rankings and looked at everyone, they obviously fell to 12, but it’s based on who won in front of them, head-to-head and everything we look at in terms of body of work.”
Both the SEC and Big Ten had four teams in the projected Week 2 playoff field.
Undefeated Army, from the American Athletic Conference, moved up one spot to No. 24, still behind three teams with three losses. Colorado, coached by Deion Sanders, entered the rankings at No. 17. If the Buffaloes win their next two games, they can earn a spot in the Big 12 championship game.
