Three of the top four seeds in the College Football Playoff would be from the Southeastern Conference and two Big 12 teams would be in the bracket based on The Associated Press Top 25 poll released Sunday.
Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame and Mississippi would be the top four seeds and Indiana, Miami, Ohio State and Alabama would host first-round games.
The five highest-ranked conference champions — from the Power Four and one from the Group of Six — will qualify for the CFP. The other seven spots will be filled by the next highest-ranked teams. One of those at-large teams will be Notre Dame if the Fighting Irish are among the top 12 in the CFP’s final rankings.
The SEC would have five teams in the field, the Big 12 and Big Ten would have two apiece and the Atlantic Coast Conference would have one. Notre Dame would be in as an independent, and Boise State would represent the Pac-12 as the top Group of Six champion.
Based on the AP rankings, the CFP would open like this:
— No. 9 seed BYU at No. 8 Alabama. Winner vs. No. 1 Texas.
— No. 12 seed Boise State at No. 5 Indiana. Winner vs. No. 4 Mississippi.
— No. 10 seed LSU at No. 7 Ohio State. Winner vs. No. 2 Georgia.
— No. 11 seed Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami. Winner vs. No. 3 Notre Dame.
The first three teams outside the bracket: Southern California, Penn State and Tennessee.
The Trojans are ranked No. 12 by the AP but would get bumped by Boise State, which is not in the AP Top 25 but is the Group of Six team that received the most votes.
First-round games are Dec. 18 and 19, quarterfinals Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, semifinals Jan. 14 and 15 and the championship game is Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The AP will publish brackets based on the weekly Top 25 until the CFP selection committee unveils its initial rankings Nov. 3.
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