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The fifth and penultimate edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings were released Tuesday night with undefeated Oregon maintaining its spot at No. 1 as has been the case in every set of rankings during this initial year of the expanded 12-team field. The only remaining undefeated team in the FBS, the Ducks sit in the top slot seeking to make their second playoff appearance overall -- first since the four-team field debuted after the 2014 season -- entering conference championship weekend.

Seven of 10 teams ranked No. 1 in a season's initial CFP Rankings ultimately reached the playoff in the four-team era with Mississippi State (2014), Tennessee (2022) and Ohio State (2023) being the exceptions. With eight more spots in the field this season, Oregon sits in a strong position at 11-0 as the only remaining undefeated program in the nation.

Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame and Georgia round out the top five the Bulldogs replacing Ohio State, which fell to Michigan in The Game last Saturday but retained a spot in the projected 12-team field.

The top Group of Five program in Tuesday's release remained Boise State at No. 10, its highest ranking yet this season. With the 12-team playoff model granting automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, the Broncos stand in pole position to earn that opportunity should they win their league. At this juncture, they would receive a bye. Other Group of Five teams in this week's rankings are UNLV (20), Army West Point (24) and Memphis (25).

Let's take a look at the entire CFP Rankings top 25 along with the projected bracket seedings for the first 12 teams. Check out analysis by bowls expert Jerry Palm below.

College Football Playoff Rankings, Dec. 3

  1. Oregon (12-0) | Projected No. 1 seed
  2. Texas (11-1) | Projected No. 2 seed
  3. Penn State (11-1) | Projected No. 5 seed
  4. Notre Dame (11-1) | Projected No. 6 seed
  5. Georgia (10-2) | Projected No. 7 seed
  6. Ohio State (10-2) | Projected No. 8 seed
  7. Tennessee (10-2) | Projected No. 9 seed
  8. SMU (11-1) | Projected No. 3 seed
  9. Indiana (11-1) | Projected No. 10 seed
  10. Boise State (11-1) | Projected No. 4 seed
  11. Alabama (9-3) | Projected No. 11 seed
  12. Miami (10-2)
  13. Ole Miss (9-3)
  14. South Carolina (9-3)
  15. Arizona State (10-2) | Projected No. 12 seed
  16. Iowa State (10-2)
  17. Clemson (9-3)
  18. BYU (10-2)
  19. Missouri (9-3)
  20. UNLV (10-2)
  21. Illinois (9-3)
  22. Syracuse (9-3)
  23. Colorado (9-3)
  24. Army West Point (10-1)
  25. Memphis (10-2)

Analysis by bowl expert Jerry Palm 

Stay tuned.