Here's where Texas landed in the new College Football Playoff rankings

HOUSTON — The new College Football Playoff rankings are out and there’s a shuffle in the field of 12 teams that would compete for a national championship if the season ended today.

Starting with the Texas schools, there’s only one among the 12 that would be in the playoffs. That’s the University of Texas, the No. 3 ranked team, but the No. 2 seed in the playoff brackets. 

SMU is No. 13 in the CFP rankings, while Texas A&M sits at No. 15. Both would be on the outside looking in. The Aggies have a Nov. 30 date with the Longhorns that could be their ticket in if they win. Before that they still need to get past Auburn on the road this weekend. If Texas beats Texas A&M on Nov. 30, it should nail down their spot in the playoffs. Before that, Texas hosts Kentucky.

Right now, the first round of the playoffs would look like this, based on the way the seedings work.  

• No. 12 BYU against No. 5 Ohio State
• No. 9 Alabama against No. 8 Notre Dame
• No. 11 Georgia vs. No. 6 Penn State
• No. 10 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 Indiana.

Oregon, Texas, Boise State and Miami would all get byes.

Here’s how the quarterfinals would look:

• No. 4 Boise State vs. Winner of BYU-Ohio State
• No. 1 Oregon vs. Winner of Alabama-Notre Dame
• No. 3 Miami vs. Winner of Georgia-Penn State
• No. 2 Texas vs. Winner of Ole Miss-Indiana.

And the semifinals

One bracket would send one of these teams to the semifinals: BYU, Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Boise State or Oregon.

The other bracket would send one of these teams to the semifinals: Georgia, Penn State, Ole Miss, Indiana, Miami or Texas.

The winners of the two semifinals would meet in the national championship.

If you want to see it in bracket form, here you go.

Why some teams have different rankings than seedings

 In the College Football Playoffs, the four highest-ranked conference champs get the No. 1 through No. 4 seedings and a bye in the first round. Texas is No. 3 in the rankings, but the No. 2 seed in the brackets. That's because Ohio State -- the team ahead of Texas in the CFP rankings -- is the No. 2 team in the Big 10 behind Oregon.  Since the Buckeyes wouldn't be conference champs, they are moved down to the No. 5 seed with Texas moving up to No. 2.

Also, BYU is ranked 14th, but gets the last spot in the 12-team bracket as the fifth-best conference leader. That bumps out No. 11 Tennessee, which lost to Georgia last week and now takes the spot the SEC's Bulldogs held last week: first team out. 

Here's an explainer from the College Football Playoff website

CFP rankings released on Nov. 19

1. Oregon (10-0)
2. Ohio State (9-1)
3. Texas (9-1) 
4. Penn State (9-1)
5. Indiana (10-0)
6. Notre Dame (9-1)
7. Alabama  (8-2)
8. Miami (9-1)
9. Ole Miss (8-2)
10. Georgia (8-2)
11. Tennessee  (8-2)
12. Boise State (9-1)
13. SMU (9-1)
14. BYU (9-1)
15. Texas A&M (8-2)
16. Colorado (8-2)
17. Clemson (8-2)
18. South Carolina  (7-3)
19. Army (9-0)
20. Tulane (9-2)
21. Arizona State (8-2)
22. Iowa State (8-2)
23. Missouri (7-3)
24. UNLV (8-2)
25. Illinois (7-3)

When do the new CFP rankings come out?

The first College Football Rankings were released on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and they’ll continue to be released every Tuesday through December 3, with the final rankings released on Sunday Dec. 8.   

The rankings are released on ESPN, and here they are Central Time.

• Tuesday, Nov. 26: 7-8 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 3: 6-6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 8: 11-3 p.m. (Selection Day)

How the College Football Playoffs will work

The five highest-ranked conference champions are automatically in the College Football Playoff. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will fill out the bracket of 12.

The top four teams will get a bye in the first round of the playoff. Of the remaining teams, the higher-ranked teams in each matchup will host the first-round games. Here is how those first-round matchups line up.

• No. 5 vs. No. 12
• No. 6 vs. No. 11
• No. 7 vs. No. 10
• No. 8 vs. No. 9

Once those games are over, there will be eight teams remaining. The next round – the quarterfinals – will be played in bowls with a rotating schedule.

This year, those quarterfinal games will be played at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 31), Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Jan. 1), Prudential Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1).

Then the semifinal round, which will include the four teams remaining, will be played at the Capital One Orange Bowl (Jan. 1) and the Good Year Cotton Bowl (Jan. 10).

The national title game will be in Atlanta on Jan. 20.

The Associated Press contributed to this report