The top four remained the same for the third week in a row in the fourth edition of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, but a chaotic Saturday brought many more changes to the playoff picture.

No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State remain atop the selection committee’s rankings entering the final week of the regular season. Indiana (10-1) fell five spots to No. 10 after a 38-15 loss to Ohio State, but remains in position to earn a CFP bid with a win over Purdue (1-10).

“We saw Indiana, they played well at times against Ohio State,” CFP Committee Chairman Warde Manuel said on the ESPN rankings release show Tuesday night.

“We were impressed with some of the things Indiana did. And they lost five, but we still felt like their work was strong enough to stay in the top 10.”

Notre Dame replaced the Hoosiers at No. 5 after its 49-14 loss to undefeated Army, which fell out of the committee’s top 25 this week. Miami (No. 6), Georgia (No. 7), Tennessee (No. 8) and SMU (No. 9) round out the top 10 along with Indiana.

THE UPDATED CFP TOP 25 IS DOWN 👀 pic.twitter.com/p4pom73Np0

– ESPN (@espn) November 27, 2024

Using the current CFP rankings, Oregon (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), Miami (ACC) and No. 11 Boise State (Mountain West) would be the four highest-rated conference champions and would earn a bye in the 12th round Earn the first round – team bracket. No. 16 Arizona State (Big 12) would receive a playoff bid as the fifth-seeded conference champion, but would be the No. 12 seed and play a first-round game.

The seedings for the first-round matchups would be as follows: No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State; No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State; No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame; and No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia.

Asked Saturday whether the Hoosiers are still in the 12-team field based on their past performance, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti responded: “Is that a serious question? I’m not even going to answer this question. The answer is obvious.” The first-year coach then smiled and nodded with a wink.

No. 12 Clemson would be the first team eliminated from the playoffs, with the Tigers ahead of SEC bubble teams Alabama (No. 13), Ole Miss (No. 14) and South Carolina (No. 15) by three Defeats ranked. But the ACC finishing three teams in the top 12 this week could be an encouraging sign that the conference has a chance to earn two final-round bids.

Three upsets on the road shook up the SEC playoff picture on Saturday. Alabama slipped six spots after a stunning 24-3 loss to Oklahoma. Ole Miss dropped five spots after losing 24-17 at Florida. And Texas A&M dropped five spots after losing 43-41 in four overtimes at Auburn. Georgia and Tennessee benefited, each moving up three spots this week.

Arizona State climbed five spots to No. 16 thanks to its 28-23 win over BYU, while Iowa State moved up four spots to No. 18 after a 31-28 win at Utah. But the committee still ranks Boise State as the No. 11 seed ahead of the Big 12 leaders, raising the possibility that the eventual Big 12 champion could miss out on a top-four spot and a first-round bye.

The Big 12 is currently in a four-way tie with the Sun Devils, Cyclones, BYU (No. 19) and Colorado (No. 25), all hoping to advance to next week’s conference championship game in Arlington, Texas.

Tulane will still be in the running for a fifth conference champion if Boise State loses again or the Big 12 ends up with a three-loss champion. The Green Wave climbed to No. 17 this week and have rattled off eight straight wins since losing to Power 4 opponents Kansas State and Oklahoma in non-conference play. They face Memphis on Thursday before facing Army next Friday in the AAC championship game.

“It’s a balance,” Manuel said. “We have to look at what the teams do over the course of the season. And when we look at film and take a look at what the teams are doing against the opponents they have to play, of course we see a Tulane team that’s playing really great football right now.” … They really are of the teams that came to mind in terms of their current style of play.”

No. 20 Texas A&M hosts No. 3 Texas on Saturday night, renewing its rivalry game for the first time since 2011, with the winner advancing to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Missouri (No. 21), UNLV (No. 22), Illinois (No. 23), Kansas State (No. 24) and Colorado round out the top 25.

Eight SEC teams are in the top 25 again this week, along with five Big Ten teams, five Big 12 teams, three ACC teams, two Mountain West teams and one AAC team.

The four first-round games will be played on December 20th and 21st at the home campus of the higher seeds. The four quarterfinal games will be in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on December 31 and January 1.

The two semifinal games will take place on January 9th and 10th at the Capital One Orange Bowl and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T is scheduled for January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.