Georgia moves up to No. 1, TCU grabs fourth spot in College Football Playoff rankings

There was no mystery about which team would be No. 1 in the second College Football Playoff rankings. After being voted third by the committee last week, Georgia moved up two places after its resounding victory against previous No. 1 Tennessee.

Following the Bulldogs were a pair of unbeaten Big Ten teams - Ohio State and Michigan. The Buckeyes had an unimpressive win at Northwestern, but still held on to the second spot. The Wolverines, which started slow against Rutgers before puling away, improved two positions to third.

The significant unknown coming into the release was the identity of the team that would be placed at No. 4. The committee sided with TCU - the other unbeaten remaining behind the top three. The Horned Frogs were seventh last week, but were boosted by the losses of the Volunteers, Clemson and Alabama.

Tennessee fell back to the fifth spot and need help to reach the conference championship game unless Georgia stumbles twice unexpectedly

The upsets Saturday opened the door for two Pac-12 teams to take up improved spots in the top 10. No. 6 Oregon and No. 8 Southern California are both in solid contention for the semifinals, and would reach the conference championship game by winning out in league play. In between those two is No. 7 LSU, fresh off its win against Alabama that pushed the Tigers up three positions.

Alabama and Clemson fell back to ninth and 10th, respectively.

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No. 17 Tulane, the lone unbeaten in conference play among the Group of Five, is the top team from those leagues. The highest-ranked champion from Group of Five earns an automatic berth in one of the New Year's Six bowl games, likely the Cotton Bowl. The Green Wave do face a tricky path just to get to the conference championship game with No. 12 Central Florida and Cincinnati left on their schedule.

With four of its teams in the top 10 and also No. 11 Mississippi and No. 24 Kentucky  included, the SEC leads all conferences with six teams in the rankings. The Pac-12 is next with five followed by four from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten. The Big 12 had three.

The final ranking of the committee will take place Dec. 4, and the top four teams will earn spots in the playoff. The semifinals will be played at the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl on Dec. 31. The championship game will be played on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

College Football Playoff committee rankings

1. Georgia (9-0)

2. Ohio State (9-0)

3. Michigan (9-0)

4. TCU (9-0)

5. Tennessee (8-1)

6. Oregon (8-1)

7. LSU (7-2)

8. Southern California (8-1)

9. Alabama (7-2)

10. Clemson (8-1)

11. Mississippi (8-1)

12. UCLA (8-1)

13. Utah (7-2)

14. Penn State (7-2)

15. North Carolina (8-1)

16. North Carolina State (7-2)

17. Tulane (8-1)

18. Texas (6-3)

19. Kansas State (6-3)

20. Notre Dame (6-3)

21. Illinois (7-2)

22. Central Florida (7-2)

23.  Florida State (6-3)

24.  Kentucky (6-3)

25.  Washington (7-2)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College Football Playoff rankings: Georgia leads, TCU jumps to No. 4