Georgia jumps to coveted No. 4 in CFP rankings; Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M stay 1-2-3

Georgia nabbed the fourth and final projected first-round bye in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, while undefeated Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M held onto the top three positions.

The Bulldogs rose one spot thanks to Alabama's loss to Oklahoma over the weekend — a result that dropped the Crimson Tide six spots to No. 10 and lifted Oklahoma three notches to eighth.

The top four teams in the rankings released Dec. 7 will receive byes in this season's playoff, which starts Dec. 19 with the 5-8 seeds hosting first-round games on campus and concludes with the title game a month later.

The selection committee endured a shakeup of its own last week, when chair Mack Rhoades, the athletic director at Baylor, abruptly stepped down and was replaced by Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek

This ranking, along with those coming out the next two Tuesdays, are all about positioning. Two teams outside the committee's top 12 would be in a bracket that assures spots for the five best-ranked conference champions.

Though No. 13 Miami has the Atlantic Coast Conference's best ranking, its two losses make it a long shot to play in that conference title game, leaving room for No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 19 Virginia to get in.

No. 24 Tulane of the American is now the third Group of 5 team to own that position in three weeks.