Texas joined Oregon, Miami and BYU as teams receiving first-round byes in the second projected College Football Playoff bracket of the 2024 season on Tuesday. The second wave of rankings were released Nov. 12, taking into account some major shifts in resumes after a wild Week 11 slate.
The No. 2 seed Longhorns take the place of Georgia, which fell all the way from that spot to out of the field after getting crushed 28-10 against projected 11-seed Ole Miss. The Bulldogs now rank No. 12 but would get pushed out of the bracket by Group of Five champion Boise State, which ranks No. 13. As we wrote in our bracket explainer: The top 12 teams in the rankings will not make the field. The top 12 seeds will.
After losing its first game of the season, Miami dropped from the 3-seed to the 4-seed, falling behind BYU. The Hurricanes fell from No. 4 to No. 9 in the CFP Rankings, while BYU jumped from No. 9 to No. 6. Down the board, Ole Miss jumped into the bracket for the first time, while Indiana also moved up from the 9-seed to the 7-seed and No. 5 in the rankings after beating reigning national champion Michigan.
This bracket is a projection heading into Week 12. None of the byes will formally be earned until a team wins a conference championship. Here is a look at how the College Football Playoff bracket looks after the second CFP Rankings release.
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Georgia slides
The Bulldogs were a major slider of the updated CFP Rankings after dropping all the way from the 2-seed to out of the projected field after a second loss. The Bulldogs looked hapless in a loss to No. 11 Ole Miss, but Georgia is not a program used to falling this low. If the 12-team CFP existed in previous years, the Bulldogs would have made it every year since 2017.
Chairman Warde Manuel said Georgia’s nine-point drop was as much about the eye test as it was the second loss. Georgia has struggled offensively for weeks now and quarterback Carson Beck ranks No. 5 in college football with 14 turnovers.
“It’s a combination of both,” Manuel said. “Their offense hasn’t been consistent, struggled with some turnovers…they have just lacked consistency on the offensive side.”
The good news for Georgia is that its situation is easily fixable. If the Bulldogs beat No. 7 Tennessee this weekend, Georgia is back in the field, no questions asked — perhaps even swapping spots with Tennessee. If they lose, however, the Bulldogs are toast. Georgia is 1-7 against the spread as a favorite and heads into its matchup with the Vols as 10-point favorites in Athens. The point spread is high because the status of Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava is up in the air.
Big 12 breathes sigh of relief
After a miserable showing during the first week, the Big 12 suddenly sits in far better position. For reasons that are unclear, the CFP Committee corrected itself and jumped BYU from No. 9 to No. 6. The move, along with Miami’s fall to No. 9, launched the Cougars into the 3-seed. It’s somewhat confusing that the Cougars moved up after nearly losing against Utah, but this ranking is far fairer.
Down the board, No. 16 Kansas State and No. 17 Colorado both moved up three spots following losses by LSU, Pittsburgh and Iowa State ahead. These rankings are important for two reasons. First, the two teams are poised to strike on potentially three-loss SEC teams or anyone else that slips up. Additionally, the teams are ranked highly enough that should BYU lose to them, they would still have a serious chance to stay in the field.
Big Ten dominates
The SEC has dominated every aspect of college football for two decades. Could that reign be coming to an end? Four of the top five teams in the CFP Rankings are Big Ten members: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana. The Hoosiers flew three spots up the board after beating Michigan to pick up its first top-five ranking of any time since 1967.
Get this: it’s the first time one conference has had four of the top five teams at any point in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Consider, too, that’s a feat accomplished without any help from last season’s Nos. 1 and 2 teams — Michigan and Washington, who aren’t ranked. Especially with Curt Cignetti’s Indiana joining the mix, the league suddenly has some depth at the top.
The SEC has prided itself on having nine national championship winning programs out of 16. At this point, the parity is hurting the league compared to the Big Ten’s disparity between its upper and lower classes. We’ll have to wait and see which strategy works best when the CFP games start. My colleague Tom Fornelli fears there’s a doomsday situation awaiting the Big Ten.
