By james art
ASSOCIATED PRES
Oregon, Georgia and Miami remained the top three seeds in the Associated Press’ College Football Playoff projection Sunday, with BYU overtaking Iowa State for the No. 4 seed.
BYU, elevated to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 after its win at UCF, surpassed the Cyclones as the expected champion of the Big 12. ISU was tied with Clemson for No. 11 in the poll; both were empty on Saturday.
Iowa State and Clemson are listed as either/or No. 11 because of their Top 25 tie. The 11-seed will play No. 6 Ohio State in the first round.
Texas A&M’s win over LSU moved the Aggies into the bracket as the No. 10 seed and pitted them against longtime rival Texas for a first-round game in Austin.
Format reminder: The top four seeds are assigned to the highest-ranked conference champions, regardless of their overall ranking. The five highest-ranked conference champions, regardless of league, are guaranteed berths in the field.
There is no limit to the number of teams that can come from one conference. The CFP selection committee begins ranking teams on Nov. 5, but for now, the breakdown via the AP Top 25:
- No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Tennessee. Winner vs. No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
- No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Penn State. Winner vs. No. 4 BYU in the Fiesta Bowl.
- No. 10 Texas A&M at No. 7 Texas. Winner vs. No. 2 Georgia in Sugar Bowl.
- No. 11 Clemson or Iowa State at No. 6 Ohio State. Winner vs. No. 3 Miami in the Peach Bowl.
Rice fires Bloomgren
HOUSTON — Rice fired seventh-year coach Mike Bloomgren on Sunday as the program headed for its 10th straight losing season after losing six of eight games.
Pete Alamar, the associate head coach and special teams coordinator, will serve as interim head coach until the end of the season, athletic director Tommy McClelland said.
Bloomgren was 24-52 and won six games in just one season, including last year when the Owls finished 6-7 after losing in the First Responder Bowl. The Owls also played in the Lending Tree Bowl as a five-win team in 2022.
WYOMING: The Mountain West Conference issued a public reprimand to Wyoming coach Jay Sowell on Sunday in response to his public criticism of game officials following the Cowboys’ game against Utah State on Saturday.