WLIO - The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first set of rankings of the season, placing Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama in the top four positions of the 12-team bracket.

Under the 12-team format, the five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids and the next seven highest-ranked teams fill the remaining spots. The top four ranked teams are awarded first-round byes.

The committee’s initial rankings list Oregon at No. 9 and Michigan at No. 21. If the playoffs started today, Ohio State would be slated to play the winner of Oregon and Texas Tech in the second round.

The committee identified conference leaders as Ohio State, Texas A&M, BYU and Virginia. Memphis was designated the top Group of 5 program for seeding purposes; Memphis is currently unranked. The initial top-25 release is composed entirely of Power Four conference schools.

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