Where the Big Ten might sit in the playoffs

On By Littum

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The college football schedule was filled with chaos in Week 13, with several College Football Playoff hopefuls suffering upsets and hurting their bids to reach the 12-team playoff.

For the Big Ten, however, Week 13 was mostly business as usual.

The only notable game between CFP hopefuls then No. 2 Ohio State withstand an early score from No. 10 Indiana to beat the Hoosiers 38-15 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggested. But even that loss for the Hoosiers, ranked No. 5 in the Week 13 CFP top 25, was tempered by several upsets across college football.

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The Hoosiers have Oklahoma, Florida and Auburn to thank for that, each knocking off two-loss SEC teams in Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M, respectively. With those losses and more in Week 13, Indiana’s Saturday loss to the Buckeyes still hurt, but doesn’t rule out being left out of the 12-team playoff.

With that, here’s what you need to know about the fourth set of rankings and where the Big Ten rank in the latest CFP top 25:

College football playoffs

This section will be updated during Tuesday’s unveiling of the CFP rankings.

College Football Playoff bracket: Who’s left out?

This section will be updated during Tuesday’s unveiling of the CFP rankings.

CFP top 25 rankings

This section will be updated during Tuesday’s unveiling of the CFP rankings.

How to view the College Football Playoff rankings

Fans can watch the fourth set of College Football Playoff rankings live on ESPN. Streaming options include the ESPN app (with a cable login), ESPN+ or Fubothe latter of which offers a free trial and carries the ESPN family of networks.

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When will the CFP rankings be released?

  • Date: Tuesday 26 Nov
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET

The fourth set of CFP rankings will be revealed at 8:00 PM ET Tuesday, November 26.

CFP Ranking Projections, Predictions

Big Ten team bold

Erick Smith, USA TODAY

  1. Oregon (Big Ten champion)*
  2. Georgia (SEC Champion)*
  3. Miami (ACC Champion)*
  4. Arizona State (Big 12 Champion)*
  5. Ohio State**
  6. Texas**
  7. Penn State**
  8. Notre Dame**
  9. Indiana
  10. Tennessee
  11. SMU
  12. Boise State (Group of Five champion)

* Denotes first round bye

** Means home field advantage

Blake Toppmeyer, USA TODAY

  1. Oregon
  2. Ohio State
  3. Texas
  4. Penn State
  5. Notre Dame
  6. Miami
  7. Georgia
  8. Tennessee
  9. SMU
  10. Indiana
  11. Boise State
  12. Arizona State

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How many teams in the 2024 College Football Playoff?

Beginning with the 2024 college football season, the CFP will include 12 teams: five automatic qualifiers and seven at-large bids.

The five automatic qualifiers will consist of the four champions of the “Power Four” leagues — ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC — and the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The four highest-ranked of these teams will be seeded 1-4 and will receive a first-round bye, while the eventual champion will receive an automatic bid but must play in a first-round game.

Note: If the highest-ranked group of five champion is placed outside the top 12 teams, it will be placed at the overall no. 12 place.

The remaining at-large teams will be seeded 5-12, with seeds 5-8 hosting a first-round matchup against seeds 9-12, respectively. From there, the winners of each first-round game advance to the quarterfinals to seed 1-4 in their respective bowl games.

As noted by the CFP, no special arrangements will be made to prevent teams that have already played each other from meeting again in the playoffs, nor will the spread be reseeded. Once set, the playoff will continue as originally seeded until its conclusion.