The 12-team College Football Playoff field is still another week away from being officially set, but the teams are coming into focus.
As we finished the 2024 regular season, there are several teams that have essentially already punched their ticket to the big dance, regardless of what happens in conference championship week.
The exact seeding is still to be determined, but here's a look at the teams by conference that have already punched their ticket barring something unforeseen.
Big Ten
Oregon Ducks (12-0)
The Oregon Ducks are the lone Power-4 team to finish the 2024 regular season undefeated. With a win over Washington on Saturday, the Ducks confirmed what we already knew for quite a while: They'll be in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The question for Oregon is if it can lock up the No. 1 overall seed with a win in the Big Ten championship next weekend. They'll take on the Penn State Nittany Lions and the winner will earn a first-round bye. Even with a loss in the conference title game, Oregon is still in the field and will host in the first-round of the playoff.
Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1)
Penn State locked up a bid into the Big Ten championship with an Ohio State loss and a win over Maryland on Saturday. Like Oregon, the Nittany Lions are playing with house money coming into this one. The loser of the Big Ten championship won't get a first-round bye, but they will host a playoff game in the first-round, likely as the No. 5 seed.
Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2)
Ohio State suffered a crushing loss to Michigan on Saturday, but the Buckeyes are still in the College Football Playoff barring something unforeseen. They have wins over both Penn State and Indiana bolstering them and the only question for the Buckeyes is if they will be one of the four hosts for the first-round or not.
Indiana Hoosiers (11-1)
There's been some talk about a three-loss SEC team jumping Indiana. We're not saying that it couldn't happen, we're just saying it shouldn't and likely won't. The Hoosiers finished the year 11-1 and they're going to be in the playoff field as we see it. Indiana won't be a host in the first-round, though.
SEC
Texas Longhorns (11-1)
Texas finished its regular season with a win over Texas A&M on the road. The Longhorns will take on Georgia in the SEC Championship game with a first-round bye on the line. If they win, they'll likely lock up the No. 2 seed. If they lose, they'll still be a host in the first-round of the playoff.
Georgia Bulldogs (10-2)
It took Georgia eight overtimes to beat in-state rival Georgia Tech on Friday night, but that doesn't matter now. The Bulldogs won and, as a result, punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff. Like Texas, Georgia is playing for a first-round bye on Saturday. If they lose, they'll still be a strong candidate to host in the first-round.
Tennessee Volunteers (10-2)
Tennessee finished its 2024 regular season with a convincing win over Vanderbilt. The Vols will now play the "wait and see" game for what their seeding will be. Tennessee could potentially be the last hosting seed, but we'd lean towards them still being on the road for the first round.
ACC
SMU (11-1)
SMU finished the year 11-1 and the Mustangs' lone loss came to BYU early in the season. SMU will now have a chance to earn a first-round bye with a win over Clemson in the ACC Championship, but a loss shouldn't eliminate them. It seems like a foregone conclusion that SMU is in the playoff, assuming they don't get blown out by Clemson in Charlotte, which simply isn't going to happen.
Even at 11-2, there's no reason to think that SMU won't get an at-large bid. The Mustangs are playing for position on Saturday night and there's a broad range between being the No. 3 seed in the playoff with a first-round bye and potentially falling to the No. 11 or No. 12 seed with a loss.
Independent
Notre Dame (11-1)
Notre Dame took care of business against USC on Saturday night and the Fighting Irish are going to be in the playoff. They have no chance at a first-round bye since they aren't in a conference, but we expect that Notre Dame will still get a favorable seed, likely somewhere around 6-7 with No. 8 being the worst. Notre Dame is going to host a playoff game.
The Contenders
For those playing along, that's a total of nine teams that have punched their ticket. At the very least, we will have two more bids locked up between the Big 12 champion and the Group of 5 bid. At most, that means there will be one at-large bid up for grabs.
As we head into conference championship week, here's a look at the teams that still have hopes to potentially get into the 12-team playoff.
Big 12 champion
The Big 12 is going to get one bid into the College Football Playoff. The big question here is if they will get one of those first-round byes or if the winner of the conference will be given the No. 12 overall seed. The title game will feature Arizona State and Iowa State.
Group of 5 bid
Barring something unforeseen, the Group of 5 bid is going to come from Mountain West Conference championship game this weekend between Boise State and UNLV. The Broncos are ranked much higher, so if they win, they'll likely earn a first-round bye. If UNLV wins, then the Rebels would still be the fifth highest-ranked conference champion and would get in, likely as the No. 12 seed.
Clemson
Believe it or not, Clemson has been given life yet again. The Tigers were left for dead around 3:30 p.m. E.T. on Saturday after falling to in-state rival South Carolina. Fast-forward about three hours later and Miami was upset by Syracuse, giving the Tigers a bid in the ACC Championship game. If Clemson beats SMU, the Tigers will be one of the five highest-ranked conference champions and they'll be in the playoff field.
The big question here would be this: If Clemson beats a top-8 SMU team, do the Tigers move ahead of the two-loss Big 12 champion for that fourth first-round bye spot? Right now, we lean towards that answer being yes.
Miami
At 10-2, Miami will be at the mercy of the College Football Playoff committee to see if they can earn a berth. With one at-large bid on the table — assuming Clemson doesn't upset SMU in the ACC Championship game — Miami will have to hope that the committee considers their two-loss season to be more worthy than a three-loss SEC team.
A cluster of three-loss SEC teams
There are three total three-loss SEC teams that are also vying for that last spot, assuming they get that chance. Alabama (9-3), South Carolina (9-3), and Ole Miss (9-3) are all pleading their case. Alabama and Ole Miss have head-to-head wins over South Carolina, but the Gamecocks also just won their last six games and went into Clemson and won to conclude their regular season.
The next edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings will be released at 7 p.m. E.T. Tuesday evening on ESPN.