Big Ten wins playoff selection derby, followed by SEC despite notable Alabama omission

College football’s conference shakeup left concerns about two super conferences dominating the playoff field.

They weren’t totally unfounded or 100% borne out, either. The Big Ten, not the Southeastern Conference, was the biggest winner on Sunday. The ACC scored, too.

The Big Ten led the initial 12-team playoff field with four programs making the cut, led by a No. 1 Oregon (13-0) team that was part of the Pac-12 exodus.

Then came the SEC — and one notable omission. ACC runner-up SMU got the nod over college football blue-blood Alabama, another blemish in Kalen DeBoer’s first season as Nick Saban’s championship-or-bust successor. Another ego blow: The Mustangs are led by Rhett Lashlee, a former offensive coordinator at rival Auburn.

The Big Ten also got in No. 6 seed Penn State (11-2), No. 8 seed Ohio State (10-2) and No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1). The SEC represented well too: No. 2 seed Georgia (11-2), No. 5 seed Texas (11-2) and No. 9 seed Tennessee (10-2).

But the ACC proved it wasn’t a one-bid league.

Clemson (10-3) — the final No. 12 seed with an overall No. 16 CFP ranking — earned the ACC’s automatic bid with a 34-31 win in the title game over No. 11 seed SMU (11-2), which was close enough to impress the playoff committee and help the Mustangs edge out the Crimson Tide.

The odd man out among Power Four leagues: The Big 12, which unsurprisingly only advanced its champion, Arizona State (11-2) — ranked No. 12 overall by the CFP but awarded the No. 4 seed as the league title winner.

The SEC was left with Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi on the wrong side of the bubble.

Mountain West Conference champion Boise State (12-1) got a No. 3 seed and first-round bye. No. 7 seed Notre Dame (11-1), an independent, had no chance to grab a bye despite a No. 5 final CFP ranking. The Fighting Irish at least get to host a first-round game against the in-state Hoosiers.

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