Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M held the top three spots in Tuesday\'s College Football Playoff rankings, while Alabama plummeted six positions to No. 10 following its 23-21 loss to Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide now trail No. 9 Notre Dame despite owning four top-25 victories compared to the Irish\'s one.
Georgia rose to No. 4 after defeating Texas 35-10, with Texas Tech at No. 5, Ole Miss at No. 6, Oregon at No. 7 and Oklahoma jumping three spots to No. 8. The victory moved Oklahoma ahead of Alabama despite the teams\' contrasting résumés.
Miami sits at No. 13, four spots behind Notre Dame, despite defeating the Irish 27-24 in the season opener. Both teams share 8-2 records, but the selection committee favored Notre Dame\'s quality losses to ranked opponents over Miami\'s defeats to unranked Louisville and SMU.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal emphasized the importance of head-to-head results earlier this week.
\"The No. 1 criteria is always head-to-head. It\'s why we play the game, right? That always has been and always will be the No. 1 factor,\" Cristobal said.
The 12-team playoff features five conference champions, with the top four teams receiving first-round byes regardless of conference championship status. Current first-round matchups would include Tulane at Texas Tech, Miami at Ole Miss, Alabama at Oregon, and Notre Dame at Oklahoma.
The SEC dominated with nine ranked teams, followed by the Big Ten with six. Alabama maintains a 71% chance of reaching the SEC championship game according to ESPN Research. In the Big 12, Texas Tech and BYU control their conference title destiny with one loss each.
The final rankings will be announced December 7, with first-round games scheduled for December 19-20.
CFP Top 25 Rankings: November 18
1. Ohio State (10-0)
2. Indiana (11-0)
3. Texas A&M (10-0)
4. Georgia (9-1)
5. Texas Tech (10-1)
6. Ole Miss (10-1)
7. Oregon (9-1)
8. Oklahoma (8-2)
9. Notre Dame (8-2)
10. Alabama (8-2)
11. BYU (9-1)
12. Utah (8-2)
13. Miami (8-2)
14. Vanderbilt (8-2)
15. USC (8-2)
16. Georgia Tech (9-1)
17. Texas (7-3)
18. Michigan (8-2)
19. Virginia (9-2)
20. Tennessee (7-3)
21. Illinois (7-3)
22. Missouri (7-3)
23. Houston (8-2)
24. Tulane (8-2)
25. Arizona State (7-3)