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PROVO — BYU's dream season and a possible berth in the College Football Playoff stayed on course Tuesday night, at least for another week.
The Cougars moved up three spots to No. 6 in the second unveiling of the College Football Playoff rankings in between the Champions Classic basketball event on ESPN.
BYU (9-0, 5-0 Big 12) took the No. 3 seed as the third-highest rated conference champion in the latest 12-team bracket projection, behind presumed Big Ten champion Oregon (10-0) and SEC favorite Texas (8-1) following Georgia's loss to Georgia Tech. Penn State and Indiana were also ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, after the Bulldogs' second loss of the season.
Tennessee (8-1) remained at No. 7 after a 33-14 win over Mississippi State, when quarterback Nico Iamaleava exited with an upper-body injury for the Vols.
But CFP selection chair Warde Manuel denied that the Cougars and Hoosiers' "leapfrog" of Tennessee had anything to do with Iamaleava's injury, and more with the team's body of work.
"Tennessee, the offense has struggled some the second half of the season, not being consistent early in the year, and we just felt as a committee that at this time Indiana has been playing very well, a close win against Michigan, but other than that, they've dominated everyone they've played," Manuel said. "BYU, obviously undefeated, two wins against top-25 opponents, at SMU and against Kansas State.
"In looking at it, as we assessed all the teams, we just felt that Indiana and BYU earned the 5 and the 6 slot, and Tennessee stayed where they are."
The Cougars are heavy favorites to advance to the Big 12 title game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a 92% chance to reach the game by ESPN Analytics and 40% chance to win it.
In the overall rankings, BYU rated No. 6 after Saturday's 22-21 win over rival Utah. Miami (9-1) fell to No. 9 and the fourth overall seed after the Hurricanes' first loss of the season.
Indiana (10-0) was rated No. 5, which would set up a first-round playoff game against No. 10 Alabama (7-2). No. 7 Tennessee would host No. 8 Notre Dame in another first-round game,
Also out of the Big 12, Colorado (7-2) was ranked No. 17 and controls its own destiny for a spot in the conference title game. Kansas State (7-2) is one spot ahead of the Buffs at No. 16.
Georgia is the first team out of the field at No. 13 in the latest rankings, followed by SMU. Presumed Mountain West champion Boise State (8-1) is rated No. 13 and took the 12th seed as the fifth highest-rated presumed conference champion, which would send the Broncos to second-ranked Ohio State (8-1) to open the playoff.
"They both are having great seasons," Manuel said. "We really judged it based on the performance overall as well as how other teams ahead and behind them performed in terms of ranking, and a lot of the discussion was in that grouping, actually. We spent a lot of time yesterday and today discussing about six or seven teams within that grouping to make sure that we were fully evaluating every team and looking at them against where others were ranked.
"Ultimately as we voted, they came out in 13 and 14 this week, and we'll continue to evaluate them as the season progresses."
Four of the top five spots went to the Big Ten.
The updated CFP bracket projection has arrived‼️
— ESPN (@espn) November 13, 2024
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College Football Playoff Rankings
Week 12 (Nov. 12, 2024)
- Oregon (10-0)
- Ohio State (8-1)
- Texas (8-1)
- Penn State (8-1)
- Indiana (10-0)
- BYU (9-0)
- Tennessee (8-1)
- Notre Dame (8-1)
- Miami (9-1)
- Alabama (7-2)
- Ole Miss (8-2)
- Georgia (7-2)
- Boise State (8-1)
- SMU (8-1)
- Texas A&M (7-2)
- Kansas State (7-2)
- Colorado (7-2)
- Washington State (8-1)
- Louisville (6-3)
- Clemson (7-2)
- South Carolina (6-3)
- LSU (6-3)
- Missouri (7-2)
- Army (9-0)
- Tulane (8-2)
