The top five of the College Football Playoff rankings did not change Tuesday, while Oregon was bumped one spot to No. 6 as a reward for defeating ranked rival Southern California over the weekend.
Oregon’s move came at the expense of Ole Miss, which slipped to No. 7 on an idle week (and amid the saga of whether Rebels coach Lane Kiffin will leave the team for LSU or Florida after the season). Oregon’s 42-27 home win over the Trojans became the best victory on the team’s resume.
Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas Tech once again constituted the top five. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama and BYU remained Nos. 8-11. Alabama was the final at-large team in the mock bracket, and BYU was the first team to miss the cut.
Behind them, Miami moved one spot past Utah for No. 12. Even though the Hurricanes cannot qualify for the ACC championship game, they represented the league in the bracket as a placeholder for one of the five highest-ranked conference champs.
Miami defeated Virginia Tech 34-17 on the road last Saturday, while Utah got a scare from visiting Kansas State and had to rally to win 51-47.
Oregon’s move up to No. 6 created a juicy first-round matchup in the mock bracket vs. 11th seed Miami. That would pit Miami coach Mario Cristobal against his former school. It also created a first-round matchup between SEC rivals Ole Miss and Alabama in the 7-10 game.
Tulane remained at No. 24 as the only non-power conference team in the Top 25. The Green Wave area the projected American Conference champion and the No. 12 seed in the bracket for the second week running.
The CFP’s final rankings will be announced on Dec. 7, one day after the conference title games.
CFP mock bracket
First-round games:
–No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech
–No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Oregon
–No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Ole Miss
–No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma
First-round byes: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Georgia
CFP Top 25
1. Ohio State (11-0)
2. Indiana (11-0)
3. Texas A&M (11-0)
4. Georgia (10-1)
5. Texas Tech (10-1)
6. Oregon (10-1)
7. Ole Miss (10-1)
8. Oklahoma (9-2)
9. Notre Dame (9-2)
10. Alabama (9-2)
11. BYU (10-1)
12. Miami (9-2)
13. Utah (9-2)
14. Vanderbilt (9-2)
15. Michigan (9-2)
16. Texas (8-3)
17. USC (8-3)
18. Virginia (9-2)
19. Tennessee (8-3)
20. Arizona State (8-3)
21. SMU (8-3)
22. Pitt (8-3)
23. Georgia Tech (9-2)
24. Tulane (9-2)
25. Arizona (8-3)
