The top four remained the same for the third week in a row on Tuesday night in the fourth installment of the College Football Playoff rankings, but a chaotic Saturday brought many more changes to the playoff picture.

No. No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State remain atop the selection committee’s rankings entering the final week of the regular season. Indiana (10-1) fell five spots to No. 10 after its 38-15 loss at Ohio State, but remains in position to earn a CFP bid with a win over Purdue (1-10).

“We watched Indiana, they played well at times against Ohio State,” CFP committee chairman Warde Manuel said on ESPN’s rankings Tuesday night.

“We were impressed with some of the things Indiana did. And they dropped five, but we still felt like their body of work was strong enough to stay in the top ten.”

Notre Dame replaced the Hoosiers at No. 5 after the 49-14 rout of undefeated Army, which fell out of the committee’s top 25 rankings this week. Miami (No. 6), Georgia (No. 7), Tennessee (No. 8) and SMU (No. 9) round out the top 10 along with Indiana.

THE UPDATED CFP TOP 25 HAS DROPPED 👀 pic.twitter.com/p4pom73Np0

— ESPN (@espn) November 27, 2024

Based on the current CFP rankings, Oregon (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), Miami (ACC) and No. 11 Boise State (Mountain West) are the four highest-rated conference champions and earn first-round byes in the 12-team bracket. No. 16 Arizona State (Big 12) would earn a playoff bid as the fifth-highest rated conference champions, but would be the No. 12 seed and play a first-round game.

The seedings for the first round matchups would look like this: No. 12 Arizona State and No. 5 Ohio State; No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State; No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame; and No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia.

When asked Saturday whether the Hoosiers still belong in the 12-team field based on their body of work, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti replied: “Is that a serious question? I’m not even going to answer that. The answer is in front of the hand.” The first-year coach then smiled and nodded yes with a wink.

No. 12 Clemson would be the first team left out of the playoffs, with the Tigers ahead of three losing SEC bubble teams Alabama (No. 13), Ole Miss (No. 14) and South Carolina (No. 15) . But the ACC landing three teams in the top 12 this week could be an encouraging sign that the conference has a chance to earn two bids in the final bracket.

A trio of traffic accidents shook up the SEC playoff picture on Saturday. Alabama dropped six spots after a stunning 24-3 loss to Oklahoma. Ole Miss dropped five spots after a 24-17 loss at Florida. And Texas A&M fell five spots after a 43-41 loss at Auburn in four overtimes. Georgia and Tennessee benefited by moving up three spots each this week.

Arizona State climbed five spots to No. 16 thanks to its 28-23 win over BYU, while Iowa State rose four spots to No. 18 after a 31-28 win at Utah. But the committee continues to rank No. 11 Boise State ahead of the Big 12 leaders, raising the possibility that the eventual Big 12 champion could miss out on a top-four seed and a first-round bye.

The Big 12 currently sits in a four-way tie atop the standings with the Sun Devils, Cyclones, BYU (No. 19) and Colorado (No. 25) all hoping to play their way to next week’s championship game in Arlington, Texas.

Tulane will remain in contention for the fifth bid for conference champions if Boise State loses again or the Big 12 ends up with a three-loss champion. The Green Wave climbed to No. 17 this week, winning eight straight since losing to Power 4 foes Kansas State and Oklahoma in non-conference play. They face Memphis on Thursday before playing Army in the AAC championship game on December 5.

“It’s a balance,” Manuel said. “We have to look at what teams do throughout the season. And when we look at film and look at what teams do against the opponents they face, obviously we see a Tulane team that is playing really great football right now. … They are really one of the teams that has come to mind in terms of how they are playing right now.”

No. No. 20 Texas A&M hosts No. 3 Texas on Saturday night, renewing their rivalry matchup for the first time since 2011, with the winner advancing to the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Missouri (No. 21), UNLV (No. 22), Illinois (No. 23), Kansas State (No. 24) and Colorado round out the top 25.

Eight SEC teams are ranked in the top 25 again this week, along with five Big Ten teams, five Big 12 teams, three ACC teams, two Mountain West teams and one AAC team.

The four first-round matches will be played on December 20 and 21 at the home campus of the higher-seeded teams. The four quarterfinals will be played at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on December 31 and January 1.

The two semifinals will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl on January 9 and 10.

The CFP National Championship, presented by AT&T, is scheduled for January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.