Overview
- Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M stayed 1–3, with Georgia taking the fourth projected bye after Alabama’s 23-21 loss to Oklahoma.
- Alabama fell six spots to No. 10 but remains inside the mock bracket, with ESPN Research giving the Tide a 71% chance to reach the SEC title game.
- Oklahoma rose to No. 8, Notre Dame held No. 9, and Miami sits No. 13 despite a head-to-head win, which chair Hunter Yurachek said has not factored yet because the teams were in different comparative tiers.
- Tulane entered at No. 24 to become the current Group of Five representative after South Florida dropped out following a loss to Navy.
- Under straight seeding, the hypothetical first round today would be Tulane–Texas Tech, Miami–Ole Miss, Alabama–Oregon and Notre Dame–Oklahoma, with campus games set for Dec. 19–20.