College Football Playoff rankings: Georgia returns to the bracket, BYU falls in third top 25

The third College Football Playoff rankings are here. The top five teams remained the same, but the projected playoff field changed — a lot. No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State made up the top four spots as revealed Tuesday night. But No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 Texas, No. 8 Miami (Fla.) and No. 12 Boise State earned the four byes as the four highest-ranked conference champions.

Before we dig into what to know in the poll, here's the top 25:

College Football Playoff rankings: Top 25 for Week 13

THE NEXT RANKINGS: Here's the schedule for when the next CFP rankings release

Here's what the 12-team field would look like

There's plenty of time and games to play before the final CFP rankings are decided, but if the season ended today, this would be the playoff bracket:

HOW IT WORKS: Here's everything you need to know for how the 12-team CFP works

Top four seeds

1 seed — No. 1 Oregon
2 seed — No. 3 Texas
3 seed — No. 8 Miami (FL)
4 seed — No. 12 Boise State

Oregon and Texas stay put as the top two seeds after both teams won last week. However, Miami moves to the No. 3 seed after BYU’s loss. The next change among the top four seeds is Boise State making its debut. Boise State is ranked only No. 12, but the Broncos moved in front of the highest-ranked Big 12 team (BYU), making the Broncos the fourth-highest-ranked projected conference champion.

First round games

(12 seed) No. 14 BYU at (5 seed) No. 2 Ohio State
(11 seed) No. 10 Georgia at (6 seed) No. 4 Penn State
(10 seed) No. 9 Ole Miss at (7 seed) No. 5 Indiana
(9 seed) No. 7 Alabama at (8 seed) No. 6 Notre Dame

This is the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The four highest-ranked conference champions receive the top four seeds, with the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion also being guaranteed a playoff spot.

Home teams

The Big Ten held steady, repeating with top-five dominance after making history last week with the most teams in any top five of a CFP rankings. Notre Dame moved up two spots to No. 6 after last week’s No. 6 and No. 7 teams lost. 

The last teams in

No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Georgia are the last two teams with at-large spots in the bracket. 

No. 14 BYU fell eight spots after its first loss, even with a 9-1 record. However, the Cougars are still the highest-ranked Big 12 team and get a spot in the playoff bracket as the fifth projected conference champion.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP: No. 1 Oregon survives Wisconsin, No. 12 UGA beats No. 7 Tennessee

Next teams out

No. 11 Tennessee is the first team out of the bracket. The Volunteers lost to Georgia last week and rank one spot behind the Bulldogs. Tennessee’s remaining schedule is against UTEP and Vanderbilt, so the Vols may not have another ranked game to impress the committee and move up.

No. 13 SMU and No. 15 Texas A&M remain the second and third teams out for the second straight week, but both teams control their own destiny as they are still alive for their conference title games.

Making sense of the two-loss SEC teams

What does that mean? Every non-champion in the SEC is projected to play on the road in the first round. Here’s how the committee ranked the two-loss teams: No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 Georgia, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 15 Texas A&M. Of those teams, only Texas A&M has a regular season game remaining against a ranked team, playing No. 3 Texas to close the season

Here’s a breakdown of the two-loss resumes:

LOOKING AHEAD: 2024-25 College Football Playoff schedule, dates, TV channel, sites

Teams by conference

Currently, the SEC and Big Ten lead all conferences with four teams in the projected CFP field. No other conference has more than one team.

Beyond the bubble

No. 16 Colorado remains a team to watch outside of the bubble, as the Buffaloes are currently tied for first place in the Big 12 with only one conference loss. At only No. 16, if Colorado won the Big 12 title, it may not receive a first round bye. Elsewhere in the Big 12, conference title contenders all rank outside of the top 20, with No. 21 Arizona State and No. 22 Iowa State as the final teams from the conference in the rankings.

In the American Athletic Conference, No. 19 Army and No. 20 Tulane are neck-and-neck. Both teams have clinched spots in the AAC title game, which will help the playoff case of both teams if they are ranked when they play. To remain ranked, Army might have to beat Notre Dame — a win that could launch the undefeated Black Knights into the projected field.

PERFECT: Here are the remaining undefeated FBS teams

Elsewhere, UNLV joining the rankings at No. 24 gives Boise State a ranked win on its resume and could come in handy in a few weeks for the final bracket.