Projecting the College Football Playoff final bracket, top 25

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Three-loss Clemson won the ACC in dramatic fashion on Saturday night and is heading to the College Football Playoff.

But at the expense of whom?

In the era of the 12-team CFP, Clemson may have beaten SMU twice on the same night — first on the field, and again by bumping them out of the committee’s No. 12 spot to make room for themselves as the fifth-highest ranked conference champion.

Or will the committee look favorably on the Mustangs’ second-half comeback and bump three-loss Alabama instead?

While Georgia’s win against Texas in the SEC title game will cause some movement at the top, and Arizona State’s Big 12 title gave the Sun Devils a much-needed boost, there was likely no bigger ripple effect on Saturday night than Clemson winning the ACC.

Here’s the final prediction of what the CFP committee’s bracket and top 25 might look like on Selection Day. This is based on what the selection committee has done to this point, what committee chair Warde Manuel has said about the field and its possibilities, and how the committee has already evaluated the teams to this point.

Remember, the top four highest-ranked conference champions receive byes, and the top five conference champions receive entry into the field.

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Projecting the final seeding

The Ducks enter the playoff as the only undefeated team remaining in the FBS, leaving them the committee’s undisputed No. 1 team overall and the No. 1 seed with a first-round bye. Saturday’s win against Penn State in the Big Ten championship game punctuated their résumé with a second top-10 win to pair with the Oct. 12 victory against Ohio State. Oregon can also claim a win against Mountain West Conference champion Boise State. The Ducks are unmatched in combination of eye test and résumé.

The Bulldogs’ two losses will keep them from the top overall spot on Selection Day, but winning the SEC title and beating Texas for the second time away from home this season — first in Austin and again in Atlanta — should bump the Bulldogs to No. 2 in the committee’s ranking and the No. 2 seed. Now that their records are even, the committee will honor the head-to-head tiebreaker with Texas as part of its protocol. Because Georgia’s losses were to two ranked…