Oregon, Texas, Penn St. at the top as Alabama passes Miami

It took five editions for the College Football Playoff rankings to be released, but the selection committee eventually changed its approach – to the delight of the SEC and the frustration of the ACC.

Oregon remained at the top of the rankings, followed by Texas, Penn State and Notre Dame.

Tuesday night’s upset came in double digits, with Alabama climbing two spots to No. 11 and Miami falling six spots to No. 12 — meaning the Crimson Tide would make the CFP field and the Hurricanes would not if they formed lasts until the championship weekend.

(The CFP seedings and matchups will be announced Sunday at 9 a.m. on ESPN, with non-playoff bowl pairings following a few hours later.)

Committee Chairman Warde Manuel explained that Alabama’s rise was based on collecting quality wins – a reasoning that makes sense, except that the committee had not prioritized quality wins in recent weeks.

Instead, significant weight was placed on teams’ win-loss records and appearance, regardless of competition. As a result, adherence to deadlines was devalued.

But on Tuesday, Manuel appeared on the ESPN broadcast and pointed to Alabama’s three wins against ranked opponents, compared to zero for Miami.

He later explained in a media conference:

“When we evaluated Alabama and Miami, it came down to a difference in their work, not just wins, not just losses, but the entire season and the performance of those teams.”

Oh, how the mood has changed — just in time for the SEC to field a fourth team.

Manuel later announced that the committee would not change its evaluation of teams not competing in conference championships this weekend.

“We know who won games against teams from these championships,” he said, “and we have already taken that into account in the evaluation this week.”

That seems to indicate that none of the overall candidates below the Crimson Tide, which would be the last team in the field, can overtake Alabama.

In other words, bad news for Miami, Mississippi and South Carolina.

More takeaways:

— Boise State moved up one spot to No. 10 and is expected to receive an opening-round bye if the Broncos defeat UNLV in the Mountain West championship game.

– This farewell will come at the expense of either the Big 12 or the ACC:

If eighth-seeded SMU wins the ACC title, the Mustangs will receive a bye and the Big 12 champion (No. 15 Arizona State or No. 16 Iowa State) will play a road game in the opening round.

If SMU loses to No. 17 Clemson, the fate of the final bye depends on whether the committee favors the Tigers or the Big 12 winner.

– Based on the latest rankings, the following projected conference champion teams would have byes: Oregon, Texas, SMU and Boise State.

And based on the rankings, the following major teams would host opening round games: Penn State, Notre Dame, Georgia and Ohio State.

— If the form holds (and it probably won’t):

Big Ten champion Oregon would face winner Tennessee-Ohio State in the quarterfinals.

Big 12 champion Arizona State would face Penn State on the road.

Mountain West champion Boise State would face the Penn State-ASU winner in the quarterfinals.