Top 3 of CFP unchanged; Tide drop, UGA to No. 4

Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M remained the top three teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, while Alabama dropped six spots to No. 10 after its loss to Oklahoma.

The Crimson Tide are now behind No. 9 Notre Dame, even though they have more top-25 victories (four) than the Irish (one). Georgia, which Alabama beat in September, moved up to No. 4, while Texas Tech moved up to No. 5, Ole Miss to No. 6, Oregon to No. 7 and Oklahoma up three spots to No. 8 after its 23-21 win in Tuscaloosa.

BYU is ranked No. 11, followed by Utah at No. 12, Miami at No. 13, Vanderbilt at No. 14 and USC at No. 15. The Hurricanes jumped two spots after a 41-7 win over NC State, but they are four spots behind Notre Dame — a big point of contention among those at Miami and in the ACC. The two teams have the same 8-2 record, but Miami beat Notre Dame 27-24 to open the season.

Earlier this week, Miami coach Mario Cristobal was asked how head-to-head games should be viewed in CFP résumé comparisons and he said, “The No. 1 criteria is always head-to-head. It’s why we play the game, right? That always has been and always will be the No. 1 factor.”

The big difference between the teams is the losses: Notre Dame lost close games to two ranked teams (Miami and Texas A&M), and Miami lost to two unranked teams (Louisville, SMU).

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek, who took over as the selection committee chair following the resignation of Mack Rhoades, said that to this point, “we really haven’t compared those teams,” referring to Miami and Notre Dame. That said, if both teams were to end up in a comparable tier, then “head-to-head will be a significant data point,” according to Yurachek.

“They haven’t been in similar comparative pools to date,” Yurachek said. “But Miami is creeping up in that range where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them.”

Texas, meanwhile, saw its at-large hopes take a hit. The Longhorns tumbled seven spots to No. 17 after a 35-10 loss to Georgia dropped them to 7-3, moving behind No. 16 Georgia Tech. Michigan is No. 18, Virginia is No. 19 and Tennessee moved up three spots to No. 20.

Illinois, Missouri, Houston, Tulane and Arizona State round out the top 25.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will make the 12-team field, but there is a tweak to the format this year, as the committee is using a straight seeding model. The top four teams in the final ranking, regardless of conference championship, will receive a first-round bye.

If the playoffs were held today, these would be the first-round matchups: Tulane at Texas Tech; Miami at Ole Miss; Alabama at Oregon; Notre Dame at Oklahoma. While Miami is slotted in as the highest-ranked ACC team in the current rankings, the Hurricanes have long odds to win the conference title.

If Georgia Tech beats Pitt on Saturday, and Virginia beats Virginia Tech next week, those two teams would play for the ACC championship. The winner would earn the automatic berth as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.

For Miami to advance to the ACC title game, the Hurricanes need to win out; have Virginia, Georgia Tech and SMU lose their remaining games; and have Duke lose one of its final two games. ESPN FPI currently gives Georgia Tech a 35.3% chance to win the ACC and Virginia a 32.7% chance.

The SEC led the way again Tuesday with nine ranked teams, while the Big Ten has six, the Big 12 has five with the additions of Houston and Arizona State, and the ACC has three after Pitt dropped out following its 37-15 loss to Notre Dame. Tulane replaced USF as the top-ranked Group of 5 representative.

Even though Alabama dropped to No. 10, the Crimson Tide still have favorable odds to make the SEC championship game, which would all but guarantee a spot in the CFP no matter the result. According to ESPN Research, Alabama has a 71% chance to make it to Atlanta with only one SEC game remaining, at Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

Georgia is done with SEC play but would lose a tiebreaker to Alabama. If Texas A&M wins at Texas next weekend, the Aggies would clinch a spot in Atlanta.

In the Big Ten, Ohio State and Indiana are in good shape to make it into the CFP. There is a crucial conference game this weekend that will have major implications for the Big Ten and an at-large berth: No. 15 USC travels to play No. 7 Oregon.

In the Big 12, Texas Tech and BYU are the only two teams with one conference loss, so they would play for a conference title if they win out.

The final CFP rankings will be announced Dec. 7, the day after the conference championships. The four first-round games will be played at the home campuses of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 19 and 20. The four quarterfinal games will be played at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31), the Capital One Orange Bowl (Jan. 1), the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential (Jan. 1) and the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1).

The two semifinal games will take place at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and 9, respectively.

The CFP National Championship game is Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.