Nolan Hauser’s 56-yard field goal as time expired lifted Clemson to a 34-31 victory over SMU in the ACC championship game.

With the win, Clemson changed the College Football Playoff standings by securing an automatic spot in the College Football Playoff as conference champion.

SMU tied the game at 31-31 with 16 seconds left in regulation when Kevin Jennings hit Roderick Daniels Jr. on an out route for a four-yard touchdown. The play was reviewed, but Daniels pulled his right foot well offside to catch the ball.

The Tigers’ win raised some questions before Sunday’s selection.

Did Clemson earn a first-round bye with its win? At 10-3 that seems unlikely. There was speculation that SMU would get a bye by winning the ACC, but the Mustangs would have had a record of 12-1. The committee probably didn’t just save a bye for the ACC champion.

And what about SMU? Did the loss knock them out of the playoffs despite a 10-2 record? Clemson’s win and Arizona State’s victory in the Big 12 Championship Game occupies two spots that many speculated would go to 9-3 Alabama or 10-2 Miami.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney made the case for SMU in his postgame interview with ESPN’s Molly McGrath.

“This is a playoff football team,” Swinney said, gesturing across the field. “SMU, they better be in the damn playoffs.”