Alabama, punished for its three losses, was passed over for SMU. It was the major question mark entering the announcement, after the Mustangs lost a heartbreaking ACC championship game to Clemson on a 56-yard field goal at the horn Saturday night.

Alabama football won’t be included in the College Football Playoff this year. The CFP committee made the Crimson Tide the first team outside of the 12-team field, so essentially the 13th team. SMU got the final spot over the Crimson Tide after losing the ACC title game on a last second field goal.

It'll be interesting to see if the CFP committee follows suit with the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 poll, which both ranked Alabama at No. 11, one spot ahead of SMU at No. 12. REQUIRED READING: When do final CFP rankings come out?