Miami and BYU lead AP-based playoff projection as Georgia loses first-round bye
The Associated Press’s bracket based on Sunday’s Top 25 puts Georgia in a first-round home game after its loss to Auburn. The playoff committee has yet to issue its first rankings.
Miami and BYU would be the top two seeds in a 12-team College Football Playoff bracket based on the Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday, October 18. Georgia would host a first-round game after losing to Auburn, according to the AP projection. The bracket is a reading of the poll, not a selection by the playoff committee.
Georgia’s defeat moved it out of the projected top four, whose seeds receive first-round byes. Ohio State would move to No. 3 and Notre Dame would take No. 4. Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and Texas Tech would instead be the four first-round hosts.
Which teams move into the projected playoff bracket
The AP projection replaces Alabama and Texas with UCLA and Tennessee after losses by the two departing teams. It also places Boise State in the field as the projected highest-ranked Group of Six champion. Kentucky, Alabama and Houston are the first three teams outside the bracket; Kentucky is No. 12 in the AP poll but would be displaced by Boise State under the projected field’s qualification rules.
The format gives places to the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven other teams. Notre Dame, an independent, would qualify for an at-large place if it is among the top 12 in the committee’s final rankings. That distinction matters when reading the AP poll as a bracket: a team’s poll position alone does not determine whether it makes the field.
On the AP-based bracket, UCLA would visit Texas Tech, with the winner advancing to face Miami. Boise State would visit Georgia for a place against Notre Dame. Utah would play at Mississippi, with BYU awaiting the winner; Tennessee would visit Indiana for a place against Ohio State.
When the CFP committee releases its first rankings
ESPN’s earlier October 18 projection put Miami first, Ohio State second and BYU third. ESPN also noted that BYU does not play Texas Tech during the regular season and is scheduled to visit Utah on November 7. The different seed order shows why the AP-based bracket should be read as one projection ahead of the committee’s rankings.
The AP plans to publish a bracket based on each weekly Top 25 until the CFP selection committee releases its initial rankings on November 3. First-round games are scheduled for December 18 and 19, followed by quarterfinals on December 30 and January 1, semifinals on January 14 and 15, and the championship game on January 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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Sources and context
- Miami and BYU would be top 2 seeds on CFP bracket based on AP Top 25; Georgia would be a hostAssociated Press (republished by Yahoo Sports)
- Projecting the College Football Playoff top 12 at midseasonESPN
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