No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Texas are one win away from locking up the top two seeds in the College Football Playoff after the release of the penultimate CFP Rankings on Tuesday. SMU projects as the 3-seed ACC champion, while Boise State is also closing in on a first-round bye after ranking No. 10 in this week's release. The Broncos are five spots clear of any Big 12 team and only need to beat No. 20 UNLV to complete a bye.
Projected Big 12 champion Arizona State sits at No. 15 in the rankings and the 12-seed in the bracket as the Sun Devils are projected to face a tough road trip to meet 5-seed Penn State in the first round. The other projected home sites are 6-seed Notre Dame, 7-seed Georgia and 8-seed Ohio State. The Fighting Irish are ineligible for a first-round bye despite ranking No. 4 because they cannot win a conference championship.
Down the board, Alabama is projected to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field after ranking No. 11 in the CFP Rankings. The Crimson Tide narrowly eked out a spot while contending against No. 12 Miami, No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 14 South Carolina for the bid. The winner of the Big 12 title game between No. 15 Arizona State and No. 16 Iowa State will likely hold the 12-seed.
Here is a look at how the College Football Playoff bracket looks after the penultimate CFP Rankings release.
CBS Sports will update this story with takeaways shortly.
