Oregon moves into top four in College Football Playoff ranking

There was top-four change Tuesday in the second release of the College Football Playoff ranking, but it was predictable.

Oregon replaced Mississippi at No. 4, behind Mississippi State, Florida State and Auburn.

The first ranking placed Auburn and Mississippi at Nos. 3 and 4 just days before the teams played each other.

Auburn’s dramatic 35-31 win solidified the Tigers’ hold on third and knocked the Rebels out of the fourth and final playoff spot — for now.

Oregon, which debuted at No. 5, used an emphatic win over Stanford to move up a spot. Alabama is now No. 5 and is poised to possibly move up because it has remaining games against Mississippi State and Auburn.

Rounding out the top 10 are Texas Christian, Kansas State, Michigan State, Arizona State and Notre Dame. Mississippi dropped to 11th.

UCLA, which was No. 22 last week, moved up four spots to No. 18 after a 10-point win over then-No. 12 Arizona.

The 12-person selection committee will release its final rankings on Dec. 7. The top four schools will meet in semifinal games at the Rose and Sugar bowls, with the winners playing a Jan. 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The committee will also grant a major bowl bid to the highest champion from a “Group of Five” conference.

East Carolina, leading that race last week with its No. 23 ranking, fell out of the top 25 after last week’s loss at Temple.