We're just hours from the announcement of the College Football Playoff field. There's plenty of drama left to play out on the field.
The committee is gathered at its headquarters in the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, to watch conference championship games that will impact their final ranking on Selection Day. It was only the beginning of conference championship weekend, but how these games unfolded with the committee watching will determine their five highest-ranked conference champions -- and how that order will impact the contenders around them.
We're tracking all the conference title games and the impact on the CFP field as well as the top plays and highlights from No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Indiana.
Jump to: CFP takeaways
Conference title takeaways
ACC: Duke 27, Virginia 20 (OT)
With Duke's win against Virginia, the five-loss ACC champion Blue Devils will likely be excluded from the field in favor of No. 25 James Madison, which won the Sun Belt. The five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the playoff, and this opens the door for two of those five to come from the American and Sun Belt conferences. This became a realistic scenario when the committee ranked JMU -- and not Duke -- in its fifth ranking. This means Tulane will earn the No. 11 seed and JMU will get the No. 12 seed as the fifth and final conference champion.
Big Ten: Indiana 13, Ohio State 10
With Indiana's win against Ohio State, the Hoosiers will earn the committee's No. 1 spot on Selection Day and the No. 1 overall seed. IU earned the best win in the country, and it also has a double-digit top-five road win against Oregon. Because it was such a close game, and Ohio State's only loss is to the committee's No. 2 team, it's likely to drop only one spot to No. 2.
SEC: Georgia 28, Alabama 7
With the win against Alabama, Georgia should lock up a top-four seed and a first-round bye, but that position depends in part on how far the loser of the Big Ten championship game falls. It's possible Ohio State and Indiana just flip -- or stay status quo.
The bigger question is how far Alabama drops following its decisive third loss. If Alabama sinks to No. 11, it will open the door for both Notre Dame and Miami to finish in the top 10 -- regardless of order. Because of how Alabama lost -- and the committee hasn't forgotten the season-opening loss to Florida State -- the Crimson Tide could fall out of the field. The committee also will consider that Alabama has a regular-season road win against the SEC champs, though. If Alabama drops only one spot, it could still be a buffer between Miami and Notre Dame -- and it could be the last at-large team in at No. 10.
Big 12: Texas Tech 34, BYU 7
Texas Tech's win against BYU secured a top-four finish and a first-round bye for the Red Raiders. It also helped Notre Dame's playoff chances tremendously, as the Irish no longer have to be concerned about being leapfrogged by BYU.
This puzzle is far from complete, though.
It doesn't matter for BYU if the committee keeps it at No. 11 or drops it to No. 12 (or beyond). Either way BYU would be bumped out during the seeding process to include a conference champion. Where BYU lands, though, will impact Miami.
The selection committee is most likely to do one of two things: drop No. 11 BYU to No. 12 behind Miami, or keep it exactly where it is. If BYU falls below the Canes, the committee could reconsider the tiebreaker between Miami and Notre Dame.
American: Tulane 34, North Texas 21
With Tulane's win against North Texas on Friday, the American champs locked up a spot in the playoff, as they will be the committee's fourth-highest-ranked conference champion. The Green Wave will earn the No. 11 or No. 12 seed, depending on who wins the ACC championship game. If Tulane gets the No. 11 seed and faces the committee's No. 6 team on the road in the first round, as things stand now, Tulane will get a rematch against Ole Miss. The Rebels beat Tulane 45-10 on Sept. 20 in Oxford, and they will have home-field advantage again as the higher seed.
Sun Belt: James Madison 31, Troy 14
With Friday's win against Troy, JMU's path to the playoff is straightforward: Duke needs to beat Virginia and win the ACC. If that happens, the committee will reward JMU with the No. 12 seed as its fifth and final conference champion -- and it would come at the expense of the ACC champion, which would be excluded. The question is if the conference will be excluded entirely, though -- or if No. 12 Miami will still sneak in, even without playing this weekend. That could happen if BYU loses to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game and drops behind Miami -- putting the Canes right below No. 10 Notre Dame. In that scenario, the committee could look at Miami's season-opening win against the Irish as one of several tiebreakers it uses to separate comparable teams.