Ohio St., IU, Texas A&M, Alabama top CFP ranking

Ohio State is the No. 1 team in the first rankings released Tuesday by the College Football Playoff selection committee, topping fellow unbeatens Indiana at No. 2 and Texas A&M at No. 3.

Three SEC teams followed the Aggies, with Alabama at No. 4, Georgia at No. 5 and Ole Miss at No. 6.

BYU, Texas Tech, Oregon and Notre Dame round out the top 10. The top ACC team is Virginia at No. 14. Every team in the Top 25 came from the Power 4 conferences, so the committee designated Memphis as the top team from the Group of 5.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will make the 12-team field, but there is a tweak to the format this year as the committee is using a straight seeding model. The top four teams in the final ranking, regardless of conference championship, will receive a first-round bye.

If the playoff was today, the first-round games would be: Memphis at Georgia; Virginia at Ole Miss; Notre Dame at BYU; and Oregon at Texas Tech.

The SEC led the way with nine teams ranked in the Top 25, while the Big Ten had seven, the ACC had five and the Big 12 had three.

Despite having two losses, Notre Dame finds itself in position to make the CFP as an at-large team for the second straight season. While the only notable win the Irish have is over No. 19 USC, both their losses came in the closing minute to No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 18 Miami in the first two weeks of the season.

Despite having the same number of losses and the head-to-head win over the Irish, Miami is ranked No. 18 -- eight spots lower than Notre Dame after losing 26-20 in overtime to SMU this past weekend. While the Hurricanes have more notable victories, their losses have put them on the outside of the 12-team field, in what could be a repeat of last year.

Though Texas and quarterback Arch Manning have looked shaky at times over the course of the season, the Longhorns are ranked No. 11 after a big win over No. 16 Vanderbilt. They also beat Oklahoma 23-6 last month. Unlike Miami and Notre Dame, that head-to-head win is what is separating Texas and the No. 12 Sooners, both with the same 7-2 record.

Utah is ranked No. 13, with Virginia at No. 14 and Louisville at No. 15. The Cards have a win over Miami but lost to the Cavaliers earlier this season.

Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Miami, USC, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Washington, Pitt and Tennessee round out the Top 25. The Vols are the only three-loss team in the rankings.

The final CFP rankings will be announced Dec. 7, the day after conference championship games will be played.

The four first-round games will be played at the home campus of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 19 and 20. The four quarterfinal games will be played at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

The two semifinal games will take place at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and 9.

The CFP National Championship presented is scheduled for Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.