Tuesday’s penultimate in-season College Football Playoff rankings reveal did not feature much movement near the top, with the top four remaining Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State and Notre Dame moving into the top five.
However, Alabama is now projected to miss the field of 12 after taking its third loss of the season this past weekend, and a couple of teams from South Carolina are also bubbling under in the playoff picture.
The four teams who would receive first-round byes did not change from last week. The four highest-ranked projected conference champs were Oregon, Texas, Miami — which moved up to the No. 6 ranking — and Boise State, which slid up to No. 11.
Taking the place of BYU, which suffered its second defeat in a row after a 9-0 start, Arizona State entered the bracket for the first time as the projected Big 12 champion and the No. 12 seed. The Sun Devils are the highest Big 12 team in the new rankings at No. 16.
Georgia and Tennessee, both 9-2, are sitting pretty at Nos. 7 and 8 in the rankings after three of its SEC counterparts dropped to 8-3. Alabama put together a lifeless effort in a 24-3 loss to Oklahoma, Ole Miss fell 24-17 at Florida and Texas A&M lost a 43-41 four-overtime thriller at Auburn.
Alabama dropped six ranking spots to No. 13 and is the second team out, behind No. 12 Clemson (9-2). On Saturday, Clemson hosts rival South Carolina, now ranked No. 15 and one of the stronger 8-3 teams in the country.
Indiana dropped five places to No. 10 after being dealt its first loss of the year by Ohio State, 38-15.
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 Tennessee at No. 8 seed Georgia
No. 10 seed SMU at No. 7 seed Notre Dame
No. 11 seed Indiana at No. 6 seed Penn State
No. 12 seed Arizona State at No. 5 seed Ohio State
CFP rankings (different from seeds)
1. Oregon (11-0)
2. Ohio State (10-1)
3. Texas (10-1)
4. Penn State (10-1)
5. Notre Dame (10-1)
6. Miami (10-1)
7. Georgia (9-2)
8. Tennessee (9-2)
9. SMU (10-1)
10. Indiana (10-1)
11. Boise State (10-1)
12. Clemson (9-2)
13. Alabama (8-3)
14. Ole Miss (8-3)
15. South Carolina (8-3)
16. Arizona State (9-2)
17. Tulane (9-2)
18. Iowa State (9-2)
19. BYU (9-2)
20. Texas A&M (8-3)
21. Missouri (8-3)
22. UNLV (9-2)
23. Illinois (8-3)
24. Kansas State (8-3)
25. Colorado (8-3)
–Field Level Media