College Football Playoff bracket: What the 12-team field looks like after the second release of the CFP rankings

Texas joined Oregon, Miami and BYU on Tuesday as teams to receive first-round byes in the second projected College Football Playoff round of the 2024 season. The second set of rankings was released on November 12 considering some big shifts in resumes after a wild Week 11 slate.

The No. 2 seed Longhorns take the place of Georgia, which fell all the way from that spot to outside the field after being crushed 28-10 by projected 11-seed Ole Miss. The Bulldogs are now ranked No. 12, but would be pushed out of the bracket by Group of Five champion Boise State, who are ranked 13th. As we wrote in our bracket explanation: The top 12 teams in the rankings do not make the field. The top 12 seeds will.

After losing the first game of the season, Miami fell from the 3-seed to the 4-seed, falling behind BYU. The Hurricanes fell from No. 4 to No. 9 in the CFP rankings, while BYU jumped from No. 9 to No. 6. On the board, Ole Miss jumped into the bracket for the first time, while Indiana also moved up the rankings. From No. 9 to No. 7 and No. 5 in the rankings after defeating reigning national champion Michigan.

This period is a projection heading into Week 12. None of the byes will be formally earned until a team wins a conference championship. Here's a look at what the College Football Playoff bracket looks like after the second release of the CFP Rankings.

Georgia slides

The Bulldogs were a big slider in the updated CFP rankings after falling all the way from second place to outside the expected field after a second loss. The Bulldogs looked unhappy after a loss to No. 11 Ole Miss, but Georgia isn't a program used to falling that low. If the 12-team CFP had existed in previous years, the Bulldogs would have made it every year since 2017.

Chairman Warde Manuel said Georgia's nine-point drop had as much to do with the eye test as it did with the second loss. Georgia has struggled offensively for weeks and quarterback Carson Beck ranks fifth in college football with 14 goals.

“It's a combination of both,” Manuel said. “Their offense was inconsistent, struggled with some turnovers, but on the offensive end there was just a lack of consistency.”

The good news for Georgia is that the situation can be easily resolved. If the Bulldogs beat No. 7 Tennessee this weekend, Georgia will be back in the field, no questions asked — maybe even switching places with Tennessee. However, if they lose, the Bulldogs are toast. Georgia is 1-7 against the spread as favorites and enters the game against the Vols as 10-point favorites in Athens. The point spread is high because the The status of Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava is up in the air.

Big 12 breathes a sigh of relief

After a miserable showing during the first week, the Big 12 is suddenly in a much better position. For reasons unclear, the CFP committee corrected itself and BYU jumped from No. 9 to No. 6. This move, along with Miami's fall to No. 9, moved the Cougars to third place. It's a bit confusing that the Cougars rose after a close loss to Utah, but these rankings are much more fair.

Further down the board, No. 16 Kansas State and No. 17 Colorado both moved up three spots after losses to LSU, Pittsburgh and Iowa State down the stretch. These rankings are important for two reasons. First, the two teams are ready to pounce on any potential three-loss SEC teams or anyone else who makes a mistake. Plus, the teams are ranked so high that if BYU loses to them, they would still have a serious shot at staying in the field.

The Big Ten dominates

The SEC has dominated every aspect of college football for two decades. Could that reign come to an end? Four of the top five teams in the CFP rankings are Big Ten members: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana. The Hoosiers moved up three spots on the board after beating Michigan to earn a top-five ranking for the first time since 1967.

Understand this: This is the first time a conference has had four of the top five teams at any point in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Remember, too, that this is a feat accomplished without any help from last season's No. 1 and 2 teams — unranked Michigan and Washington. Especially with Curt Cignetti's Indiana joining the mix, the league suddenly has some depth at the top.

The SEC is proud to have nine of its sixteen programs win national championships. Right now, the parity is hurting the league compared to the Big Ten's disparity between the upper and lower classes. We'll have to wait and see which strategy works best when the CFP games start. My colleague Tom Fornelli fears that a doomsday scenario awaits the Big Ten.