Oregon is the No. 1 seed in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, as expected, followed by Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State.
The CFP selection committee on Sunday unveiled the field of 12, with the first four spots assured of going to conference champions, and the discussion of who was left out of the playoff sure to go on for days.
Oregon and Georgia were ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the overall field by the committee, with Boise State at No. 9 and Arizona State at No. 12. But the Broncos of the Mountain West Conference, as the third highest-ranked league champion, moved to No. 3 and the Sun Devils slotted in at No. 4.
Arizona State, in its first season in the Big 12, was projected to finish last in the conference in preseason polls. The Sun Devils routed Iowa State 45-19 in the conference title game on Saturday.
Left out of the field was Alabama, which finished 9-3 and ranked No. 12 overall.
The remainder of the playoff field is filled largely with blue-blood programs. Teams finishing in the No. 5 through 12 seeds play a first-round game while the top four received a bye.
Those games, to be played on the campus of the higher seed:
–No. 5 Texas (11-2) vs. No. 12 Clemson (10-3) in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 21. The Longhorns were ranked No. 3 overall by the committee, and Clemson was No. 16 but made the field as champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference, beating SMU 34-31 on Saturday night. Texas lost to Georgia 22-19 in overtime in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
–No. 6 Penn State (11-2) vs. No. 11 SMU (11-2) in University Park, Pa., on Dec. 21. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 4 overall and the Mustangs No. 10.
–No. 7 Notre Dame (11-1) vs. No. 10 Indiana (11-1) in South Bend, Ind., on Dec. 20. The Fighting Irish were ranked No. 5 overall and the Hoosiers No. 8.
–No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) vs. No. 9 Tennessee (10-2) in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 21. The Buckeyes were No. 6 overall, with the Volunteers No. 7.
The winners of home-campus games will face the top four teams in bowl games still to be announced.
The final CFP rankings were as follows:
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Texas
4. Penn State
5. Notre Dame
6. Ohio State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. Boise State
10. SMU
11. Alabama
12. Arizona State
13. Miami
14. Ole Miss
15. South Carolina
16. Clemson
17. BYU
18. Iowa State
19. Missouri
20. Illinois
21. Syracuse
22. Army
23. Colorado
24. UNLV
25. Memphis
–Field Level Media
