The Red River Rivalry would be played a second time this season with Oklahoma hosting Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff if the bracket were based on The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday.
The teams earning top-four seeds and receiving first-round byes would remain the same as last week but in a different order. Ohio State would continue to be No. 1, followed by No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 LSU.
No. 7 Oklahoma, which plays No. 10 Texas in Dallas on Oct. 11, is on the AP Top 25-based bracket for the first time this season. So is No. 12 Texas Tech, which moved past No. 14 Iowa State in Sunday’s poll and replaced the Cyclones as the Big 12’s highest-ranked team.
The addition of the Sooners would give the Southeastern Conference five teams in the 12-team CFP. The Big Ten would have three teams in the field, the Atlantic Coast Conference two and the Big 12 and American one each. South Florida would be in as the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion based on having the most points of any unranked G5 team.
Based on the AP Top 25, the CFP would open like this:
— No. 9 seed Texas A&M at No. 8 Florida State. Winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State.
— No. 12 seed South Florida at No. 5 seed Georgia. Winner vs. No. 4 LSU.
— No. 10 seed Texas at No. 7 seed Oklahoma. Winner vs. No. 2 Miami.
— No. 11 seed Texas Tech at No. 6 Oregon. Winner vs. No. 3 Penn State.
The first three teams outside the bracket: Indiana, Mississippi, Iowa State.
The Hoosiers are ranked No. 11 by the AP but would get bumped by automatically qualifying conference champions, in this case Texas Tech of the Big 12 and South Florida of the American.
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 in early December.
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.
The AP will publish brackets based on the weekly Top 25 until the CFP selection committee unveils its initial rankings Nov. 4.