Lubbock,TX – Texas Tech surged into the top four of the latest College Football playoff (CFP) rankings,released Tuesday,positioning themselves for a first-round bye in the expanded 12-team playoff bracket. The Red Raiders’ ascent marks a importent shift in the postseason landscape as teams jockey for favorable seeding with only one set of rankings remaining before the final selections.
This jump to No.4 is critical as the top four teams in the CFP standings will receive a first-round bye, automatically advancing to the quarterfinals. The expanded playoff format, debuting this season, guarantees automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, with the remaining seven spots awarded to the next highest-ranked teams. Currently, ohio state, Indiana, and Georgia join Texas Tech as projected bye-week recipients.
The current projected first-round matchups,based on the fourth set of CFP rankings,include No.12 Tulane at no. 5 Oregon, No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Ole Miss, and No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Texas A&M. Winners of thes contests will advance to face the top four seeds in the quarterfinals: Oregon versus Texas Tech,Oklahoma versus Ohio State,Ole Miss versus Georgia,and Texas A&M versus Indiana.
As of this ranking, Virginia is the highest-ranked ACC team and, should thay win the ACC Championship, would secure an automatic bid as the No. 11 seed. Tulane currently holds the No. 12 seed among conference champions.BYU and Miami are the first two teams outside the projected playoff field.
The CFP rankings release schedule continues with the final selections announced on December 8th. The first round of games will be played on campus sites for seeds 5-12.
