Ohio State, Penn State, LSU and Georgia would be the top four seeds in the College Football Playoff based on the first Associated Press Top 25 poll of the regular season while Miami, Oregon, Texas and Clemson would host first-round games.
The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference each would have four teams in the 12-team field and the Atlantic Coast Conference would have two. Notre Dame would be in as an independent. So would South Florida as the Group of Five member receiving the most votes among unranked teams this week.
Based on the AP Top 25, the CFP would open like this:
— No. 9 seed Notre Dame at No. 8 Clemson. Winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State.
— No. 12 seed South Florida at No. 5 seed Miami. Winner vs. No. 4 Georgia.
— No. 10 seed South Carolina at No. 7 seed Texas. Winner vs. No. 2 Penn State.
— No. 11 seed Arizona State at No. 6 Oregon. Winner vs. No. 3 LSU.
The first three teams outside the bracket: Illinois, Florida, Florida State.
The Illini are ranked No. 11 by the AP but would get bumped by automatically qualifying conference champions, in this case Arizona State of the Big 12 and South Florida of the American.
The five highest-ranked conference champions automatically qualify for the CFP, but no longer do the four highest-ranked champions receive a first-round bye. The 12-team bracket is now seeded directly based on the CFP’s final rankings, with the four highest-ranked teams receiving a first-round bye.
Those four teams will be assigned to quarterfinals in ranking order and in consideration of current bowl relationships. This year, quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl. The No. 1 seed would receive preferential placement based on geography.
Teams ranked Nos. 5-12 by the CFP will play in the first round, with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded school. First-round games are Dec. 19 and 20, quarterfinals Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, semifinals Jan. 8 and 9 and the championship game is Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The AP will publish brackets based on the weekly Top 25 until the CFP selection committee unveils its initial rankings Nov. 4.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
