College Football Playoff rankings: Boise State moves ahead of BYU and into a first-round bye

Boise State jumped ahead of BYU in the third College Football Playoff rankings of 2024.

The Broncos moved up to No. 12 and the Cougars fell eight spots to No. 14 after losing to Kansas on Saturday night. Since Boise State is in front of BYU, the Broncos are the provisional No. 4 seed in the playoff with two weeks to go in the regular season.

Remember, the top four conference champions receive first-round byes into the playoff while seeds Nos. 5 through 12 play in first-round games. Five conference champions are guaranteed spots into the playoff. BYU is the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the latest top 25 and five spots ahead of Army, the top AAC team in the rankings.

BYU has a very good opportunity to vault back over the Broncos in Week 13. The Cougars visit No. 18 Arizona State in one of two massive Big 12 games in the penultimate weekend. If BYU wins convincingly, it’s very easy to see the committee moving them ahead of Boise State. After all, the committee moved BYU up three spots a week ago after a field goal with three seconds left gave the Cougars a 22-21 win at Utah.

Outside of the swap between BYU and Boise State, the only significant move in the top 12 came at Tennessee’s expense. Georgia moved back into the projected bracket after a 31-17 win over the Vols in Week 12. Tennessee is at No. 11 in the rankings and the first team currently out of the College Football Playoff.

First-round byes

1. Oregon

2. Texas

3. Miami

4. Boise State

First-round matchups

No. 12 BYU at No. 5 Ohio State

No. 11 Georgia at No. 6 Penn State

No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Indiana

No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame

Top 25

1. Oregon (11-0)

2. Ohio State (9-1)

3. Texas (9-1)

4. Penn State (9-1)

5. Indiana (10-0)

6. Notre Dame (9-1)

7. Alabama (8-2)

8. Miami (9-1)

9. Ole Miss (8-2)

10. Georgia (8-2)

11. Tennessee (8-2)

12. Boise State (9-1)

13. SMU (9-1)

14. BYU (9-1)

15. Texas A&M (8-2)

16. Colorado (8-2)

17. Clemson (8-2)

18. South Carolina (7-3)

19. Army (9-0)

20. Tulane (9-2)

21. Arizona State (8-2)

22. Iowa State (8-2)

23. Missouri (7-3)

24. UNLV (8-2)

25. Illinois (7-3)