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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Unbeaten Oregon is the No. 1 team in the first rankings released by the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday.
The Ducks were followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Miami and Texas in the top five.
Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana, BYU, Notre Dame, Alabama and Boise State round out the top 12, which would compete in the newly expanded playoff at season’s end.
Because the top four seeds must be conference champions under the new CFP format, Oregon (Big Ten), Georgia (SEC), Miami (ACC) and BYU (Big 12) would receive first-round byes if the initial rankings were used for the 12-team bracket.
The first-round games would look like this: Boise State at Ohio State, Alabama at Texas, Notre Dame at Penn State and Indiana at Tennessee.
The SEC and Big Ten each had four teams in the top 12. Undefeated BYU is the lone Big 12 program in the top 12, and unbeaten Miami is the only ACC team in the top 12 after Clemson suffered its second loss last week, to Louisville at home.
Boise State, whose only defeat of the season was at Oregon on Sept. 7, was the highest-ranked team from a Group of Five conference.
SMU was No. 13 in the selection committee’s rankings, followed by Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Pittsburgh, Kansas State and Colorado.
Washington State, Louisville, Clemson, Missouri and unbeaten Army rounded out the top 25.
The Black Knights would have to jump Boise State to get an automatic selection as the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion. Army (8-0) hasn’t yet defeated a ranked opponent. It plays Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Nov. 23.
The four first-round games will be played at the higher-seeded teams’ home campuses on Dec. 20 and 21. The four quarterfinal contests will be staged at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
The two semifinal games will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9 and 10.
The CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T is scheduled for Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
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