Miami, Vanderbilt and Texas, which sprung the weekend’s lone significant upset by beating previously undefeated Texas A&M, all did their best to give the College Football Playoff selection committee something to consider beyond the current top 10.

It might not matter. Because the teams that needed to win to secure — if not truly clinch — spots in the Playoff did so this weekend.

Other than Texas A&M, the rest of the top 10 teams in last week’s rankings — Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texas Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama — won, and the chances any of them will fall out come selection Sunday seem pretty slim. Seven teams ended the weekend with a better than 99 percent chance to make the CFP, according to Austin Mock’s projections for The Athletic — including No. 3 Texas A&M (11-1).

And remember, the cut-off line is top 10 because the final two of the five conference champions that are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field are assured now of being ranked outside the committee’s final top 12.

What we learned about the College Football Playoff in Week 14 is there might not be much drama next weekend outside of the ACC and the American, when 10 conference championship games are played — including a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the Big Ten.

Let’s assess where things stand.

B1G game?

No. 1 Ohio State (12-0) broke its losing streak to Michigan in rather matter-of-fact fashion. It took the Buckeyes a little while to get rolling, but they were the far superior team, and it showed. Now, they’ll head to Indianapolis for the first time since 2020 to face Indiana (12-0).

The Hoosiers, unsurprisingly, have never been to the Big Ten title game and have not won the conference since 1967.

The winner of Ohio State-Indiana probably gets the No. 1 seed and a quarterfinal on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl. The loser? Probably no worse than the No. 4 seed and a bye.

Should be fun, but it also raises the question: Do we really need these championship games anymore?

Lucky loser?

Doubt you’ll be able to convince a Texas A&M fan that there was a silver lining to losing to Texas and missing out on the program’s first SEC title game appearance.

But, alas, chin up, Aggies. Your team is probably still a lock to at least host a first-round game, is still in play for a first-round bye and has some time to get healthy and rested.

You again?

Both Alabama and Georgia had to put in a full day of work to beat their rivals. Especially the Crimson Tide at Auburn on Saturday night. That set up the fifth SEC championship meeting between the Bulldogs and Tide, third since 2021.

Alabama has dominated the rivalry, even as Georgia and coach Kirby Smart have otherwise usurped the Tide as the SEC’s best program with two national titles and two SEC titles in that span.

As for this year’s Playoff, if Georgia (11-1) wins, it’s probably looking at a No. 2 seed and quarterfinal in the Sugar Bowl. That same situation didn’t work out too well for the Bulldogs in last year’s CFP, when Notre Dame beat them in New Orleans.

A victory for Alabama (10-2) would improve the Tide’s record to 8-1 against Smart and could earn Bama a bye as a top-four seed. Georgia might stay in the top four as well.

An Alabama loss might put the Tide on shaky ground to make the field, with several quality contenders on the outside looking in. But considering the committee’s reluctance last year to knock teams out of the field for losing conference title games, the Tide have to like their position — even if they’re not a lock.

“We’ve got more than a Playoff-caliber football team. There’s not a question in my mind,” coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters after beating Auburn 27-20.

There is a lot of that going around right now.

Bid thief?

The Big 12 got its best possible championship game with No. 5 Texas Tech (11-1) against No. 11 BYU (11-1). The regular-season meeting was all Red Raiders, and if it goes the same way in Arlington, Texas, Joey McGuire’s team could very well nab a first-round bye and a return to Jerry World for a Cotton Bowl quarterfinal.

But here is a reason those teams at the back of the top 10 can’t rest. If BYU does bounce back to beat Texas Tech, which has 11 victories of at least 22 points, the Cougars become bid stealers, with the Red Raiders still prime contenders to earn an at-large bid.

No. 11 BYU probably doesn’t have that same latitude. Especially if this meeting goes similarly to the last.

Watching and waiting

No. 6 Oregon (11-1), No. 7 Ole Miss (11-1) and No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2) will join Texas A&M on the couch next weekend, feeling pretty good about where they stand and rooting against Alabama in the hopes of holding on to their first-round home games.

The Rebels might be looking at playing their first CFP game with an interim coach.

Expect some pushback against OU, especially from Austin, where Texas is making its case to get in at 9-3. The Longhorns soundly beat the Sooners back in October. It probably won’t be enough.

Miami vs. Notre Dame

Both made emphatic closing arguments on Saturday. No. 9 Notre Dame beat Stanford 49-20. No. 12 Miami beat Pitt 38-7.

Will that be enough to finally convince the committee to let Miami’s head-to-head victory against the Fighting Irish on Labor Day weekend be the deciding factor in favor of the Hurricanes?

“The best part of football is you get to settle it on the field, where head-to-head is always the No. 1 criteria,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal told ESPN after the Pitt game.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman’s retort (of sorts) after the Stanford game: “It’s hard for me to believe that there are 12 better teams than Notre Dame as we consider who should be in the Playoff.”

For what it’s worth, Miami and Notre Dame played four common opponents this season: NC State, Syracuse, Stanford and Pitt. The Irish outscored those four 192-49, with a big boost from a 70-7 rout over Syracuse. Miami outscored the common opponents 160-31.

With neither they nor any of the teams they have played taking the field next week, Tuesday’s penultimate rankings might settle this for good. Mock’s projections place Notre Dame at 95 percent and Miami at just 1 percent to make the field.

ACC/American/Sun Belt

When Saturday started, six teams were alive to play in the ACC title game next week, with a spot in the CFP (presumably) on the line.

The conference ended up with its worst-case scenario when Cal upset SMU to knock the Mustangs out of the championship game and set up a rematch between No. 18 Virginia (10-2) and Duke (7-5).

Yes, Duke, which lost three nonconference games, including at UConn, and lost 34-17 at home to the Cavaliers just a couple of weeks ago. The Blue Devils were 0-2 against the teams that finished in the top six of the ACC standings, but by avoiding some of the worst teams in the league, their opponents’ winning percentage earned them a spot in the title game via the conference tiebreaker.

QUEEN CITY BOUND 🏆@DukeFOOTBALL has clinched a spot in the 2025 ACC Football Championship Game.

🏆 https://t.co/pFYk5zYAQw
🎟️ https://t.co/1Kouu605nU pic.twitter.com/Oe75WwFfy8

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) November 30, 2025

Duke winning the ACC creates the possibility that James Madison (11-1), if it can complete a perfect run through the Sun Belt by beating Troy, could squeeze in as the committee’s fifth-highest-ranked conference champion. That would put two Group of 5 teams in the field, with JMU joining the winner of Tulane (10-2) and North Texas (11-1), who will meet in the American Championship Game.

Mock’s projections give JMU a 39 percent chance of making the Playoff as of Sunday morning, compared to just 7 percent for Duke.