College Football Playoff Pictures: Here's what the 12-team bracket looks like after 5 weeks

It's never too early to start thinking about the College Football Playoff field.

With this season's playoffs expanding to 12 teams, we'll be creating the projected playoff field each week. Yes, the official playoff rankings won't be released until November 5, but that won't stop us from making our own guesses.

Without the CFP rankings as our guide, we will rely mostly on the AP Top 25 as our barometer to project the field. The CFP rankings and the AP poll usually have more similarities than differences at the end of the season. Here's what the tentative playoff field looks like as the calendar flips to October.

First round bye

1. Alabama (4-0, projected SEC champion)

The Crimson Tide climbed to the top spot in the AP poll on Sunday after their dominant first half turned into a rout against Georgia. Alabama looked unstoppable for the first 30 minutes and, well, stopped until 17-year-old freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams made two big plays in the second half. Alabama travels to a formidable Vanderbilt squad on Saturday afternoon. Don't be surprised if Vanderbilt hangs around a bit.

2. Ohio State (4-0, projected Big Ten champion)

The Buckeyes have now jumped into the AP Top 25 by two different SEC teams despite having a season with four 30-point wins. Ohio State has been taking care of business so far this season and it showed in a 38-7 win at Michigan State. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith continued to show why he's so good, and three different QBs got a chance to pass against the Spartans. Saturday's matchup against Iowa's defense will be the OSU offense's biggest test yet.

3. Miami (5-0, projected ACC champion)

The Hurricanes remain at No. 3 despite a dramatic 38-34 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night. Miami did its best to lose the game and nearly had the game-winning Hail Mary attempt called incomplete. Cam Ward had his first two-interception game of the season against Tech, though he totaled five touchdowns. The Hurricanes will now get to experience life in the rebuilt ACC as their Week 6 game is at Cal and kicks off at 10:30 pm ET.

4. Iowa State (4-0, projected Big 12 champion)

Welcome to the show, Cyclones. Iowa State is the top-ranked team in the Big 12 after Utah lost to Arizona late Saturday night. The Cyclones defense has been outstanding this season. ISU has allowed just 29 points in its four games and 19 of those were scored by Iowa in Week 2. The Big 12 may be the most wide-open conference in the country, but Iowa State has a chance to continue its undefeated streak. The Cyclones don't play a ranked team until the final week of the season, and a road game at Kansas in early November doesn't seem as tough as it was earlier in the season.

First round game

No. 12. Boise State (3-1, projected MWC champion) at No. 5 Texas (5-0, at-large)

The Broncos continue to look like a top-five team in the nation after running around and around Washington State late Saturday night. Utah State visits Hawaii in Week 6 before traveling. The Broncos need to be 5-1 before playing at UNLV in late October. The Longhorns fall into a big spot here after regular season wins over Mississippi State and wins over Alabama. Quin Ewers now has an off week at Texas to recover before the annual rivalry game against Oklahoma.

No. 11 Michigan (4-1, at-large) at No. 6 Tennessee (4-0, at-large)

The Wolverines closed it out with a 27-24 win over Minnesota that was helped by a controversial offside call on the Gophers' onside kick late in the game. Michigan seemingly put the game away before the Gophers scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines go into a national title game rematch in Washington in Week 6 with not much juice due to turnovers on both teams. Tennessee was off in Week 5 and heads to Arkansas in a game that could be tougher than it looks.

No. 10 Missouri (4-0, at-large) at No. 7 Georgia (3-1, at-large)

The Tigers were also off in Week 5 and have their biggest test in Week 6 with a trip to No. 25 Texas A&M. Mizzou's last two games were one-possession wins over Boston College and Vanderbilt, respectively. A win over the Aggies would go a long way for the Tigers' playoff hopes. Georgia dropped to just No. 5 in the AP poll after the loss and will have every chance to climb back to No. 1 the rest of the season. The Bulldogs can take out their frustrations in Week 6 against a turnover-prone Auburn squad.

No. 9 Penn State (4-0, at-large) at No. 8 Oregon (4-0, at-large)

Penn State's win over Illinois wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. The Nittany Lions shut out the Illini in the second half as running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen put the game away. Thanks to seven sacks by Illinois QB Luke Altmaier, the Illini had just 34 rushing yards on 32 sacks. Oregon easily defeated UCLA late Saturday night in a Pac-12 showdown that counts as a Big Ten Conference matchup. The Ducks host Michigan State on Friday night.