College Football Playoff Rankings: Four Big Ten Teams in Top Five

The College Football Playoff committee released its third weekly rankings, awarding four of the top five spots to Big Ten teams. Oregon, Texas, Miami and Boise State would receive first-round byes if the season ended today.

Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. runs after the catch during the Indiana-Michigan football game on Nov. 9, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The College Football Playoff committee released its weekly rankings for the third time this season Tuesday night, awarding a non-Power Four team a first round bye following a chaotic finish for the Big 12 conference Saturday.

The committee placed four Big Ten Conference teams in the top five, joining No. 3 Texas. No. 1 Oregon remained atop the rankings for a third straight week, joined by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana. Illinois also joined the rankings at No. 25 to give the conference five total programs in the standings.

The four highest-ranked conference winners will receive automatic byes in the new 12-team format of the playoff. No. 12 Boise State moved into the fourth-seed spot after the Big 12 conference's tumble out of the top ten following BYU's home loss Saturday to Kansas. The four teams that would earn first-round byes if the season ended today are Oregon, Texas, No. 8 Miami and the Broncos.

Nov 16, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty runs for a touchdown against the San Jose State Spartans in the third quarter at CEFCU Stadium. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The remaining eight spots would award home-playoff contests for higher ranked seeds. The remainder of the top-12 programs in this week's rankings included No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 Georgia, and No. 11 Tennessee. In this scenario, the Volunteers would be left out as the next-highest-ranked conference winner, BYU, would claim the final bid. The Cougars were listed at No. 14 following their loss.

Just missing the top-12 rankings were No. 13 SMU, No. 15 Texas A&M, and No. 16 Colorado. No. 17 Clemson, No. 18 South Carolina, and No. 19 Army are also on the outside looking in. No. 20 Tulane, No. 21 Arizona State, No. 22 Iowa State, No. 23 Missouri, No. 24 UNLV and Illinois round out the committee's top 25.

If the season ended today with this week's rankings, the College Football Playoff matchups would include first-round battles with Alabama visiting Notre Dame, BYU traveling to Ohio State, Georgia at Penn State, and Ole Miss heading to battle Indiana.

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— ESPN (@espn) November 20, 2024

Oregon would await the winner of the Alabama-Notre Dame matchup, Boise State would face the victor of BYU vs. Ohio State, Miami would challenge Georgia or Penn State, while Texas would face Ole Miss or Indiana. Following the quarterfinals, the next four teams would advance to the semifinals and finally the national championship.

Notable contests are set up for Saturday to shake up the committee's fourth rankings next week, as Ohio State welcomes the Hoosiers for Indiana's biggest test of the regular season. In the SEC, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M all have two losses while Texas has only lost once. The Longhorns and Aggies, however, will play in the final week of the regular season.

The next playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday, Nov. 26, with the final committee rankings arriving on Sunday, Dec. 8, after the conference championship games.

College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 19, 2024)

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Penn State
5. Indiana
6. Notre Dame
7. Alabama
8. Miami (FL)
9. Ole Miss
10. Georgia
11. Tennessee
12. Boise State
13. SMU
14. BYU
15. Texas A&M
16. Colorado
17. Clemson
18. South Carolina
19. Army
20. Tulane
21. Arizona State
22. Iowa State
23. Missouri
24. UNLV
25. Illinois

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