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.
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 finished, though.
It doesn't matter for BYU if the committee keeps it at No. 11 or drops them 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 them exactly where they are. If BYU falls below the Canes, the committee could reconsider the tiebreaker between Miami and Notre Dame.
Tulane 34, North Texas 21
With Tulane's win against North Texas, 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 the Rebels. Ole Miss beat Tulane 45-10 on Sept. 20 in Oxford and will have home-field advantage again as the higher seed.
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.
