Boise State would get the fourth and final bye based on Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings, leaving BYU out of that mix and placing the Big 12 alongside the Southeastern Conference on the list of power conferences with a gripe.
Undefeated Oregon received top billing once again, delivered by the committee a few hours after Big Ten number crunchers ran through tiebreaker scenarios and realized the Ducks had clinched a spot in the conference title game no matter what happens between now and December.
Ohio State stayed at No. 2, one spot ahead of SEC co-leader Texas. Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference was ranked eighth but would get the third seed and a bye that goes to the four highest-ranked conference leaders. Likewise, Boise State of the Mountain West was ranked 12th by the committee but slotted into that fourth and final bye.
BYU was ranked 14th but would get the last spot in the 12-team bracket as the fifth-best conference leader. That bumps out No. 11 Tennessee, which lost to Georgia on Saturday and now takes the place the SEC’s Bulldogs held last week: first team out.
There are three more weeks of rankings to go, culminating with the reveal on Dec. 8 that sets the bracket for college football’s first 12-team playoff.
Boise State’s rise into the bye wasn’t all that unexpected after BYU suffered its first loss of the season against Kansas and tumbled eight spots in the rankings. Still, it’s a bit of a comedown for Big 12 backers, who would point out that every team in their conference has a stronger strength of schedule than the Broncos.
Of course, nobody cries foul louder than the SEC, which was generally appalled at seeing Georgia left out last week after its lopsided loss to Mississippi. Now the Bulldogs are back at No. 10. Alabama is No. 7 and Ole Miss is No. 9. All three teams, along with Tennessee, have two losses, but nobody can argue with the conference’s strength of schedule.
Penn State remained No. 4, followed by No. 5 Indiana and No. 6 Notre Dame.