The College Football Playoff selection committee released its second set of rankings Tuesday, leaving the top five unchanged. Ohio State remained No. 1, followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia.
The next seven spots were Texas Tech (6), Ole Miss (7), Oregon (8), Notre Dame (9), Texas (10), Oklahoma (11) and BYU (12). Because the 12-team field guarantees spots for five conference champions, the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion — No. 24 South Florida — would slide into the 12th seed and projected ACC champion Miami would replace Oklahoma in the bracket.
If the rankings held, the Buckeyes, Hoosiers, Aggies and Crimson Tide would earn first-round byes as the top four seeds. First-round matchups would be: South Florida at Georgia, Miami at Texas Tech, Texas at Ole Miss and Notre Dame at Oregon. The top 12 featured six SEC teams, three Big Ten teams and two from the Big 12; the ACC had five teams in the top 25 but none higher than No. 15. South Florida was the only Group of 5 school in the top 25.
The committee did not penalize unbeaten Indiana after its comeback 27-24 victory at Penn State, capped by Fernando Mendoza’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. with 36
