The first ever 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was revealed on Sunday, and based on the selection committee’s choices, it’s clear that past successes do not guarantee you a spot.

As Nolan Hauser’s game-winning 56-yard kick sailed through the uprights, thus sealing a defeat for the SMU Mustangs and ending their bid for the ACC Championship, the question became whether the committee would use that defeat to allow a three-loss Alabama into the playoff as the #12 seed or reward a two-loss SMU team to compete for a championship.

That question has been answered: Bama is out, and SMU is in.

As far as the conference champions, all of whom will receive a first-round bye, the Oregon Ducks, unsurprisingly, are the #1 seed. The Georgia Bulldogs secured the #2 seed. Boise State slid into the #3 spot, and Arizona State secured the fourth and final conference championship spot.

Texas, who lost to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, secured the first at-large spot at #5 and will play ACC champ #12 Clemson in the first round. Penn State, the loser of a thrilling Big 10 Championship game against Oregon, gets the 6-seed and will face #11 SMU. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who are independent and were idle for conference championship weekend, will face in-state foe #10 Indiana.

Two-loss Ohio State secured the #8 spot and will host #9 Tennessee.

Alabama, a three-loss team with a pair of defeats against unranked opponents, was left even though it was included as of last week. Miami, a two-loss team with several narrow wins and at least two victories resulting from controversial calls at the end of games, was also left out.

Looking at the layout of games, it would appear that Texas, though still no doubt smarting from their agonizing defeat Saturday night to Georgia, has much to be happy about this morning. Clemson is a well-coached team, but it also barely beat an SMU team that played terribly for at least the first 20 minutes of the ACC Championship game. Then, if they beat SMU, they get an Arizona State team that does not recruit athletes of the same caliber as Texas.

Another team that went to bed angry Saturday night but should be feeling good right now is Penn State. The Nittany Lions draw a tough SMU team in the first round. However, should they survive that (which they should), they draw a Boise State team that does not have nearly as much NFL talent as Oregon.

If Penn State scored 37 points on Oregon’s highly regarded and competent defense, it’s not hard to see them surpassing 40 against Boise State.

In any event, it’s going to be a fun ride.