Penn State remained at No. 4 Tuesday night in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
The Nittany Lions (9-1) were projected as the sixth seed in the 12-team playoff and would play 11th-seeded Georgia (8-2) in the first round Dec. 20 or 21 at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State travels to Minnesota (6-4) Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game on CBS.
In the initial rankings two weeks ago, Penn State was ranked sixth, seeded seventh and projected to face Notre Dame in the first round. Last week, the Lions also were seeded sixth and projected to play Ole Miss in the first round.
Coming off a 49-10 win at Purdue, Penn State was ranked behind No. 1 Oregon (11-0), No. 2 Ohio State (9-1) and No. 3 Texas (9-1) and ahead of No. 5 Indiana (10-0).
The Hoosiers travel to Ohio Stadium to meet the Buckeyes Saturday.
Notre Dame (9-1) was sixth in the rankings, followed by Alabama (8-2), Miami (9-1), Ole Miss (8-2), Georgia, Tennessee (8-2) and Boise State (9-1).
As one of the four highest-ranked conference champions, Boise State would be one of the top four seeded teams and draw a first-round bye along with Oregon, Texas and Miami.
The first-round pairings would have No. 12 BYU (9-1) at No. 5 Ohio State, No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame, Georgia at Penn State and No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Indiana.
BYU is projected to make the playoff field as the Big 12 champion. That means Tennessee would not make the field.
Illinois (7-3), which Penn State defeated 21-7 in September, moved into the rankings at No. 25, giving the Lions a win over a ranked opponent.
In the quarterfinals Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, No. 1 Oregon would play the Alabama-Notre Dame winner; No. 2 Texas would play the Ole Miss-Indiana winner; No. 3 Miami would play the Georgia-Penn State winner; and No. 4 Boise State would play the BYU-Ohio State winner.
The final rankings will be announced Dec. 8, along with the pairings.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Dec. 31 (Fiesta Bowl) and Jan. 1 (Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls). The semifinals are set for Jan. 9 (Orange Bowl) and Jan. 10 (Cotton Bowl).
The CFP national championship game is scheduled for Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
SMU (9-1) was 13th, followed by BYU (9-1), Texas A&M (8-2), Colorado (8-2), Clemson (8-2), South Carolina (7-3), Army (9-0) and Tulane (9-2).
Arizona State (8-2) was 21st, followed by Iowa State (8-2), Missouri (7-3), UNLV (8-2) and Illinois.
