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Northern Illinois football moved up two spots in the latest Associated Press top 25 college football rankings, and remained in the AP’s latest College Football Playoff bracket watch.
The Huskies are now ranked No. 23 in the nation, moving up two spots from the previous week. NIU did not play this week, enjoying a bye week after defeating No. 5 Notre Dame the previous week.
NIU also remained as the No. 12 seed in the AP’s look at the College Football Playoff. The Huskies next play Buffalo at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Huskie Stadium.
The projected College Football Playoff field has a new top seed.
Using The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll to fill out the 12-team bracket, Texas now holds the No. 1 seed after taking the top spot in the rankings Sunday.
Ohio State is still the projected No. 2 seed as the Big Ten champion, with Miami as the third seed as Atlantic Coast Conference champ and Utah of the Big 12 as the fourth seed.
There was little other significant movement in the projections with the same 12 teams in the field this week as last.
Tennessee and Missouri swapped spots in what would be an 8-9 game in the first round. Now the Volunteers are the eighth seed and projected home team.
Penn State and Oregon also swapped seeds with the Ducks at 10 and Nittany Lions at 11.
A reminder about the format: The top four seeds are assigned to the highest-ranked conference champions, regardless of their overall ranking. The five highest-ranked conference champions, regardless of league, are guaranteed spots in the field.
There is no cap on the number of teams that can come from one conference. The CFP selection committee starts ranking teams in November but for now, the breakdown via the Top 25:
No. 9 Missouri at No. 8 Tennessee. Winner vs. No. 1 Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
No. 12 Northern Illinois at No. 5 Georgia. Winner vs. No. 4 Utah in the Fiesta Bowl.
No. 10 Oregon at No. 7 Mississippi. Winner vs. No. 2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
No. 11 Penn State at No. 6 Alabama. Winner vs. No. 3 Miami in the Peach Bowl.
Moving in this week: None.
The latest AP Top 25 is as follows:
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Texas (35) | 3-0 | 1540 | 2 |
| 2. Georgia (23) | 3-0 | 1518 | 1 |
| 3. Ohio St. (5) | 2-0 | 1461 | 3 |
| 4. Alabama | 3-0 | 1358 | 4 |
| 5. Mississippi | 3-0 | 1316 | 5 |
| 6. Tennessee | 3-0 | 1188 | 7 |
| 7. Missouri | 3-0 | 1127 | 6 |
| 8. Miami | 3-0 | 1094 | 10 |
| 9. Oregon | 3-0 | 1093 | 9 |
| 10. Penn St. | 2-0 | 1050 | 8 |
| 11. Southern Cal | 2-0 | 1008 | 11 |
| 12. Utah | 3-0 | 912 | 12 |
| 13. Kansas St. | 3-0 | 836 | 14 |
| 14. Oklahoma St. | 3-0 | 742 | 13 |
| 15. Oklahoma | 3-0 | 649 | 15 |
| 16. LSU | 2-1 | 537 | 16 |
| 17. Notre Dame | 2-1 | 477 | 18 |
| 18. Michigan | 2-1 | 447 | 17 |
| 19. Louisville | 2-0 | 418 | 19 |
| 20. Iowa St. | 2-0 | 354 | 21 |
| 21. Clemson | 1-1 | 291 | 22 |
| 22. Nebraska | 3-0 | 266 | 23 |
| 23. Northern Illinois | 2-0 | 151 | 25 |
| 24. Illinois | 3-0 | 137 | - |
| 25. Texas A&M | 2-1 | 82 | - |
• The Associated Press contributed to this report.