Little movement was expected between the committee’s penultimate top-25 rankings, released Tuesday, and Sunday’s finale, as the committee’s chairman, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, had said that teams not competing this weekend Conference championship games are essentially frozen.

The 48 hours leading up to the bracket release went largely as expected, with many favorites winning their conference championship games; An exception, however, came when Clemson upset SMU with a last-second field goal to win the ACC Championship game on Saturday. SMU, which just a week ago was pegged as conference champions for a possible top-four spot, suddenly found its resume thrown into a debate with other major contenders like Alabama, which had more losses but more top-25 wins last general location.

Ultimately, SMU emerged as one of the group’s biggest winners when, despite losing in the title game, the committee included the Mustangs and left out perennial powerhouse Alabama.

Manuel said the committee debated extensively the merits of SMU and Alabama.

“The way SMU played in that game, losing by a last-second field goal, we felt like SMU had the edge over Alabama in that one,” Manuel said, “but that’s not disrespect the strength of Alabama’s schedule.”

Former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban suggested on ESPN that teams need to tighten up their scheduling going forward.

“Play more good games,” he said. “Instead of playing eight SEC games, maybe we should play 10.”

The top four seeds were secured this weekend as Oregon beat Penn State to win the Big Ten, Georgia beat Texas in overtime for the SEC title, Arizona State won the Big 12 over Iowa State and Boise State beat UNLV and Mountain West won.

Since seeds 1-4 receive byes, the playoffs begin on December 20th and 21st with a first round between teams ranked 5th-12th, played at the home stadiums of the higher seeds.

These matchups are now set:

• Clemson, Texas
• Indiana at Notre Dame
• SMU at Penn State
• Tennessee at Ohio State

The winners of the first round advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played in the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and Sugar Bowl, where they will face one of the top four seeds on December 31 and January 1. The Seedings That means the winner of Ohio State-Tennessee will face Oregon, the winner of Indiana-Notre Dame will face Georgia, the winner of SMU-Penn State will face Boise State and the winner of Clemson-Texas will face Arizona State.

The dates of the remaining College Football Playoffs:

Semifinals: 9th–10th January, in the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl.

championship: January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.