
The College Football Playoff committee decided to leave Alabama out of their inaugural 12-team field in favor of SMU. The No. 11 ranked Crimson Tide finished their regular season 9-3, while SMU (11-2) lost the ACC championship game to Clemson on a last-second field goal Saturday.
Since Clemson received an automatic bid with the win, the committee had to decide between Alabama and SMU. The committee gave the last at-large spot to SMU, which CFP chairman Warde Manuel said was the result of "quite a debate."