Miami and BYU would be top 2 seeds on CFP bracket based on AP Top 25; Georgia would be a host

Miami and BYU would hold the leading 2 seeds on the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket based upon The Associated Press Top 25 launched Sunday and UCLA would make its first-ever look in the field.

The predicted bracket was mixed with Georgia’s loss to Auburn bumping the Bulldogs out of a top-four seed and the first-round bye that chooses it. Alabama and Texas dropped off the bracket with their losses and were changed by UCLA and Tennessee.

Ohio State would go up an area to the No. 3 seed and Notre Dame would drop a called to No. 4. Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and Texas Tech would host first-round video games.

The 5 highest-ranked conference champs– from the Power Four and one from the Group of Six– will get approved for the CFP. The other 7 areas will be filled by the next highest-ranked groups. Among those at-large groups will be Notre Dame if the Fighting Irish are amongst the leading 12 in the CFP’s last rankings.

A month back, Southeastern Conference groups held down 3 of the leading 4 seeds on the forecasted bracket. Now the SEC’s highest-seeded group would be No. 5 Georgia.

The SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 would have 3 groups each on the bracket. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Pac-12 would have one each. Notre Dame would remain in as an independent and Boise State would represent the Pac-12 as the leading Group of Six champ.

Based upon the AP rankings, the CFP would open like this:

— No. 9 seed UCLA at No. 8 Texas Tech. Winner vs. No. 1 Miami.

— No. 12 seed Boise State at No. 5 seed Georgia. Winner vs. No. 4 Notre Dame.

— No. 10 seed Utah at No. 7 Mississippi. Winner vs. No. 2 BYU.

— No. 11 seed Tennessee at No. 6 Indiana. Winner vs. No. 3 Ohio State.

The very first 3 groups outside the bracket: Kentucky, Alabama and Houston. The Wildcats are ranked No. 12 by the AP however would get bumped by Boise State, the highest-ranked Group of Six group.

First-round video games are Dec. 18 and 19, quarterfinals Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, semifinals Jan. 14 and 15 and the national championship is Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The AP will release brackets based upon the weekly Top 25 up until the CFP choice committee reveals its preliminary rankings Nov. 3.

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Register for Top 25 survey signals here, check out the Top 25 here and see AP’s complete college football protection here