Notre Dame, Virginia, Texas Tech on AP-based CFP bracket; Texas, Oklahoma on outside looking in

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Notre Dame, Virginia and Texas Tech are on the College Football Playoff mock bracket based on The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday while Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama remain the top four seeds.

The CFP committee will release its first rankings of the season on Tuesday night.

With Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Miami all losing Saturday and dropping off the AP bracket, three of the four first-round matchups changed and one would be an all-Big 12 game.

The Southeastern Conference has four of the 12 teams on the mock bracket. The Big Ten has three teams, the Big 12 two, and the Atlantic Coast Conference and American Conference one each. Notre Dame would be in as an independent.

Based on the AP Top 25, the CFP would open like this, with the top four seeds receiving first-round byes:

— No. 9 seed Texas Tech at No. 8 seed BYU. Winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State.

— No. 12 seed Memphis at No. 5 Georgia. Winner vs. No. 4 Alabama.

— No. 10 seed Notre Dame at No. 7 Mississippi. Winner vs. No. 2 Indiana.

— No. 11 seed Virginia at No. 6 Oregon. Winner vs. No. 3 Texas A&M.

The first three teams outside the bracket: Oklahoma, Texas and Louisville.

Oklahoma is ranked No. 11 by the AP but would get bumped by automatically qualifying conference champion Virginia of the ACC. Texas is No. 13 in the AP poll but would be on the outside looking to make room for Group of Five representative Memphis.

The five highest-ranked conference champions automatically qualify for the CFP, but no longer do the four highest-ranked champions receive a first-round bye. The 12-team bracket is now seeded directly based on the CFP’s final rankings on Dec. 7.

The top four seeds will be assigned to quarterfinals in ranking order and in consideration of current bowl relationships. This year, quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl. The No. 1 seed would receive preferential placement based on geography.

Teams ranked Nos. 5-12 by the CFP will play in the first round, with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded school. First-round games are Dec. 19 and 20, quarterfinals Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, semifinals Jan. 8 and 9 and the championship game is Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

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