Oregon holds steady at No. 1 in penultimate College Football Playoff rankings

The top-ranked Oregon Ducks continue to dominate college football as they prepare to play Penn State in the Big Ten championship game.

On ESPN’s rankings reveal event Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff selection committee revealed that Oregon had held the top spot in the rankings for the fifth straight week. The Ducks (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) are only one victory away from securing a first-round CFP bye and remain atop the AP and coaches’ polls.

The Ducks would automatically qualify for the 12-team playoffs and receive a first-round bye as the presumptive Big Ten champions. The winner of a first-round playoff meeting between projected No. 8 seed Ohio State and No. 9 seed Tennessee on December 20 or 21 would face No. 1 seed Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

THE CFP BRACKET PROJECTION UPDATEDtwitter.com/5dB1gqvoD0 images

With conference championship games remaining to be played, it will be interesting to see how those seeds change in Sunday’s final rankings. ESPN will broadcast the CFP selection program on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. PT.

If Oregon were to lose the Big Ten championship game, the Ducks would be all but guaranteed to host a first-round playoff game at Autzen Stadium most likely as the No. 5 or 6 seed, depending on how the rankings shake out.

The five conference champions with the highest rankings automatically receive a bid under the new College Football Playoff regulations, while seven other teams receive at-large bids determined by the committee’s rankings. The conference winners’ top four teams advance to a major bowl game, which is played on December 31 or January 1, with a first-round bye. Games for seeds 5–12 in the first round are played at the home field of the higher seed.

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The Ducks would have their choice of this season’s CFP semifinal locations, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl, which are scheduled for January 9 and 10 in Dallas and Miami, respectively, if No. 1 Oregon advanced past the Rose Bowl. Atlanta will host the CFP national championship game on January 20.

CFP TOP 25 RANKINGS

For December 3rd

1. Oregon (12-0)

2. Texas (11-1)

3. 11-1 Penn State

4. 11-1 Notre Dame

5. Georgia (10-2)

6. Ohio State (10-2)

7. Tennessee (10-2)

8. SMU (11-1)

9. Indiana (11-1)

10. Boise State (11-1)

11. Alabama (9-3)

12. Miami (10-2)

13. Ole Miss (9-3)

14. South Carolina (9-3)

15. Arizona State (10-2)

16. Iowa State (10-2)

17. Clemson (9-3)

18. BYU (10-2)

19. Missouri (9-3)

20. UNLV (10-2)

21. Illinois (9-3)

22. Syracuse (9-3)

23. Colorado (9-3)

24. Army (10-1)

25. Memphis (10-2)

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