ATHENS — Gary Stokan was tuned into the release of the first College Football Rankings on Tuesday night, eager to get a taste of what his Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl quarterfinal might look like.

That said, Stokan — the CEO and president of the Peach Bowl — is well aware things can and will change before the final CFP rankings come out on Dec. 8 -- the day after the conference championship games -- and the final 12-team CFP bracket is set.

“You have to add the caveat, ‘if the season ended today when projecting,’ " Stokan said with a chuckle, well aware there’s still a lot of football to be played.

“So if the season ended today, we’d have the No. 3 seed Miami, against the winner of No. 11 seed Alabama at No. 6 seed Texas, and that would be a helluva game.”

Stokan explained that there are two years left on the contracts the six New Year’s Six Bowls have with the CFP, as they continue to serve as quarterfinal and semifinal sites.

Two of the four quarterfinal games have conference tie-ins — the Rose Bowl (Big Ten), and the Sugar Bowl (SEC or Big 12 champ, depending on which is ranked highest).

The Fiesta Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl do not have contracts with conferences, so there picks would be of an at-large nature.

The top 4-seeded teams in the first CFP rankings -- seedings and rankings are not necessarily the same (rankings below story) -- which would receive byes if the season ended today, are:

1. Oregon (Big Ten)

2. Georgia (SEC)

3. Miami (ACC)

4. BYU (Big 12)

Teams seeded No. 5 through No. 12, if the season ended today, which would play on-campus games in the first round of the CFP are:

5. Ohio State (would host No. 12 seed Boise State)

6. Texas (would host No. 11 seed Alabama)

7. Penn State (would host No. 10 seed Notre Dame)

8. Tennessee (would host No. 9 seed Indiana)

9. Indiana

10. Notre Dame

11. Alabama

12 Boise State

“So Oregon, the No. 1 team, would have to go to the Rose Bowl, by contract, and then play the winner of " Stokan said. “Georgia, because it’s the highest-seeded SEC team — and higher ranked than the Big 12 champ, would go to the Sugar Bowl by contract.”

The Bulldogs, currently seeded No. 2, would play the winner of Notre Dame at Penn State.

The other quarterfinals would be, as Stokan noted, the winner of No. 11 seed Alabama at No. 6 seed Texas playing No. 3-seed ACC champ Miami, and the winner of No. 9-seed Indiana at No. 8 Tennessee playing in the Fiesta Bowl.

The four-team bracket led by No. 1-seed Oregon would be set for the winner to advance to the Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas) Semifinal, and the four-team bracket led by No. 2-seed Georgia would be set for the Orange Bowl.

“In the semifinal games, the committee doesn’t ask the highest-seeded team where it wants to play, they just look geographically between Dallas (Arlington) and Miami, and Oregon is obviously closer to Texas.

It’s the first year of the 12-team playoff, and there are some quirks that many fans are still becoming accustomed to.

The rankings no longer directly apply to the seedings, as they did in the four-team playoff, as the 12-team CFP is mandated to take the top four ranked conference champions and seed them one through four.

This explains how Ohio State is ranked No. 2, ahead of Georgia, but seeded No. 5 — Oregon is the top-ranked Big Ten team, so the Buckeyes are relegated to the highest ranking outside the top four.

That moves Georgia up from its No. 3 ranking to the No. 2 seed, as it’s the second-highest ranked conference team per the current standings.

The Power 4 conference championship game winners — Big 12, ACC, SEC and Big Ten — are guaranteed slots/seeds in the 12 team playoff.

The highest-ranked team among “Group of Five” conferences is also guaranteed one of the 12 slots/seeds, even if it is not ranked within the Top 12 teams.

Boise State is the highest-ranked Group of Five team at the moment, at No. 12.

The CFP schedule is as follows:

CFP FIRST ROUND

Dec. 20

Teams to be determined, 8 p.m. (ABC/ESPN)

Dec. 21

Teams to be determined, 12 p.m. (TNT Sports)

Teams to be determined, 4 p.m. (TNT Sports

Teams to be determined, 8 p.m. (ABC/ESPN)

CFP QUARTERFINALS

Dec. 31

Fiesta Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) in Glendale, Ariz.

Jan. 1

Peach Bowl, 1 p.m. (ESPN) in Atlanta

Rose Bowl, 5 p.m. (ESPN) in Pasadena, Calif.

Sugar Bowl, 8:45 p.m. (ESPN) in New Orleans

CFP SEMIFINALS

Jan. 9

Orange Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) in Miami Gardens

Jan. 10

Cotton Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) in Arlington, Texas

CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Jan. 20, Mercedes-Benz Stadium 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) in Atlanta

CFP Top 25 Rankings

* indicates Group of Five affiliation for purposes of playoff

1. Oregon (Big Ten)

2. Ohio State (Big Ten)

3. Georgia (SEC)

4. Miami, Fla. (ACC)

5. Texas (SEC)

6. Penn State (Big Ten)

7. Tennessee (SEC)

8. Indiana (Big Ten)

9. BYU (Big 12)

10. Notre Dame (Independent)

11. Alabama (SEC)

*12. Boise State (Mountain West)

13. SMU (ACC)

14. Texas A&M (SEC)

15. LSU (SEC)

16. Ole Miss (SEC)

17. Iowa State (Big 12)

18. Pitt (ACC)

19. Kansas State (Big 12)

20. Colorado (Big 12)

*21. Washington State (Pac-12)

22. Louisville (ACC)

23. Clemson (ACC)

24. Missouri (SEC)

*25. Army (American Athletic)