Undefeated Oregon secured the top spot in the first 12-team College Football Playoff standings announced Sunday, while SMU – despite a loss in the ACC Championship Game – edged out Alabama to take the final spot.

No. 2 seed Georgia (11-2), No. 3 seed Boise State (12-1) and No. 4 seed Arizona State (11-2) received first-round byes that matched the four highest-seed conference teams. Champions were guaranteed.

Clemson (10-3), which unexpectedly won the ACC title with a last-second 56-yard field goal, missed a first-round bye and was seeded 12th. The Tigers play at No. 5 seed Texas (11-2).

Other first-round matchups include: No. 11 seed SMU (11-2) vs. No. 6 seed Penn State (11-2); No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1) vs. No. 7 Notre Dame (11-1); and No. 9 seed Tennessee (10-2) and No. 8 seed Ohio State (10-2).

These first round games will be played locally on December 20th and 21st.

THE BRACKET IS SET ✍️

Who are you taking to win? #CFBPlayoff? pic.twitter.com/9BDWwesEVL

– ESPN (@espn) December 8, 2024

The biggest debate at Sunday’s unveiling was what the committee would do with SMU. Heading into the ACC Championship Game, the Mustangs were ranked No. 8 and remained undefeated in league play. Coach Rhett Lashlee and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips insisted that should be enough to make it, regardless of what happened against Clemson.

Although the committee had previously stated that teams should not be penalized for losing in a conference championship game, it gave itself leeway by saying much of it would be decided based on the game itself.

SMU trailed Clemson by 17 points before tying the score with 16 seconds left. However, Clemson got within field goal range in two games and won 34-31 to clinch an automatic spot in the ACC. Afterwards, Lashlee said it would be “criminal” and “wrong on so many levels” if the committee decided to exclude them from the playoffs.

“We showed up and fought hard. We should be there. They know we should be there,” Lashlee said Saturday night.

Alabama (9-3) didn’t play on Saturday, but was the last team in the field in the second-to-last rankings.

A quick schedule comparison shows that Alabama has a lead over SMU in several categories – it ranks higher than SMU in record strength (No. 9; SMU was 15th) and FPI (fourth; SMU ranked 13th).

While Alabama picked up a 41-34 win over SEC champion Georgia and two more Top 25 wins, the Crimson Tide suffered three losses, including two against .500 teams – 40-35 against Vanderbilt and an ugly 24-3 Away loss to Oklahoma November 23rd.

SMU, meanwhile, has two losses by a total of six points to ACC champion Clemson and 10-2 BYU. While the Mustangs have not picked up a win against a team currently ranked in the top 25, they have a 5-2 record against teams over .500; Alabama is 5-1 against teams over .500, but has two other losses to 6-6 teams.

The ACC found itself in a similar situation on Selection Sunday just last season, when its undefeated conference champion Florida State was eliminated from the four-team playoffs in favor of one-loss SEC champion Alabama.

There was concern all week that the ACC could once again lose a playoff spot to the SEC and Alabama, but there were also real questions about the value of conference championship games if teams ranked in the top 12 of those games were eliminated could be losses.

Among the other teams that felt they had a good chance of making the 12-team field, Miami (10-2) was the next team to be eliminated after Alabama. Manuel said last week that these teams would essentially be locked in and have no chance of advancing to the top 12.

South Carolina finished the season with six straight wins, but lost straight to Alabama and Ole Miss. Miami, meanwhile, lost two of its last three games but had a better record against bowl teams on the road (4-2). ) than Alabama (1-3).

Boise State defeated UNLV 21-7 in the Mountain West championship game to earn its bye. The Broncos have the 81st-ranked schedule but have been primed for a first-round bye since Nov. 19, when they edged ahead of the top-ranked Big 12 team.

Arizona State, ranked No. 15 entering Sunday, defeated Iowa State 45-19 in the Big 12 championship game to move up to No. 12 in the standings and earn a final first-round bye against the ACC champion Tigers.

The four quarterfinal games will be played on December 31 and January 1 at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The two semifinal games will take place on January 9th and 10th at the Capital One Orange Bowl and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T is scheduled for January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.