Penn State moved up one spot to No. 3 Tuesday night in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings and is projected to play Arizona State in the first round.
The Nittany Lions were projected as the fifth seeds in the 12-team playoff and would play the 12th-seeded Sun Devils (10-2) in the first round Dec. 20 or 21 at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State (11-1) faces Oregon (12-0) in the Big Ten championship game Saturday night at 8 (TV-CBS) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The rankings were shuffled after Michigan upset former No. 3 Ohio State 13-10 and Syracuse knocked off then-No. 6 Miami 42-38 last weekend.
Coming off a 44-7 victory over Maryland, the Lions were ranked behind No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Texas (11-1). Notre Dame (11-1) was fourth, followed by Georgia (10-2), Ohio State (10-2), Tennessee (10-2), SMU (11-1), Indiana (11-1) and Boise State (11-1).
Alabama (9-3) was 11th, followed by Miami (10-2), Mississippi (9-3), South Carolina (9-3), Arizona State, Iowa State (10-2), Clemson (9-3), BYU (10-2), Missouri (9-3) and UNLV (10-2).
Illinois (9-3) was 21st, followed by Syracuse (9-3), Colorado (9-3), Army (10-1) and Memphis (10-2).
Oregon, Texas, SMU and Boise State would draw first-round byes as the four highest-ranked conference champions. Arizona State would receive an automatic berth as the Big 12 champion.
The other projected first-round matchups would have 11th-seeded Alabama at sixth-seeded Notre Dame, 10th-seeded Indiana at seventh-seeded Georgia and ninth-seeded Tennessee at eighth-seeded Ohio State.
In the quarterfinals Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, No. 1 Oregon would play the Tennessee-Ohio State winner; No. 2 Texas would play the Indiana-Georgia winner; No. 3 SMU would play the Alabama-Notre Dame winner; and No. 4 Boise State would play the Penn State-Arizona State winner.
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.
Five conference championship games will impact the final rankings and pairings, which will be announced Sunday.
Friday night at 8, Boise State will face UNLV for the Mountain West title.
Four games are set for Saturday: Arizona State vs. Iowa State at noon for the Big 12 championship, Texas vs. Georgia at 4 p.m. for the Southeastern Conference crown, Oregon vs. Penn State at 8 p.m. for the Big Ten title and Clemson vs. SMU at 8 for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
