Oregon still tops college football playoff rankings; Georgia falls out

Undefeated Oregon stayed on top in the second batch of College Football Playoff rankings, while Tuesday’s poll shoved Georgia completely out of the bracket after its lopsided loss to Mississippi.

Led by the Ducks, then Ohio State, the Big Ten captured four of the top five spots — a string interrupted only by Texas of the Southeastern Conference, which was slotted in at No. 3 and would receive a first-round bye.

Georgia’s 28-10 loss to Ole Miss dropped the Bulldogs from third to all the way to 12th, but they would be the first team out because No. 13 Boise State of the Mountain West would receive an automatic bid and the final spot in the 12-team bracket as the fifth-best conference champion.

BYU was ranked sixth, but would receive a first-round bye as the Big 12’s champion if it wins out.

Those byes go to the four highest-ranked conference champions, meaning Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference would get a pass into the quarterfinals per this week’s version of the bracket despite a loss to Georgia Tech that dropped the Hurricanes five spots to No. 9.

The other ranked teams: 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 rankings every week, closing on Dec. 8 with the final poll that will determine the official pairings. College football’s first 12-team playoff begins with first-round games Dec. 20-21 and concludes with the title game on Jan. 20.



(AP Photo Randy J. Williams)