SMU's comeback effort seals the deal, Oregon looks like the team to beat and other takeaways from every college football conference championship game

Conference championship weekend is in the books, the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field is set and everyone is happy.

Right?

While most conference title games over the weekend largely impacted seeding — aside from a virtual CFP play-in in the Big 12 title game, won by Arizona State — Clemson made things a bit tougher on the committee with its ACC championship upset over 11-1 SMU. Despite a vocal lobbying effort from Alabama and the SEC, the committee ultimately chose not to punish the Mustangs for losing a 13th game heartbreakingly after coming from behind.

The Crimson Tide were left out, and SMU claimed the final at-large spot. Clemson's win got it into the field as the No. 12 seed, but it missed out on a bye as Group of Five representative Boise State earned the No. 3 seed with its Mountain West title win with the Sun Devils at No. 4.

Sports talk shows may have picked up some discussion fodder for the next nine months, but regardless, it's time to start looking ahead at the CFP. Before we do that, though, here are the takeaways from every conference championship game over the weekend.

Conference USA: Jacksonville State 52, Western Kentucky 12

Western Kentucky played its way into the Conference USA title game with a 19-17 home win over Jacksonville State last week, but it didn't fare nearly as well in the rematch on the road. The Hilltoppers were outgained 562-229 as Gamecocks running back Tre Stewart went for 201 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in a dominant win.

It was still a nice season for the Hilltoppers, who overcame an early quarterback injury to TJ Finley and have fared well with Caden Veltkamp behind center this season. Jax State, meanwhile, has won a conference title in just its second season at the FBS level and will now hope it can keep Rich Rodriguez around as he remains in the mix to return to West Virginia as the head coach.

Mountain West: Boise State 21, UNLV 7

Unlike in the C-USA title game, the loser of Round 1 fared even worse in the rematch in the Mountain West championship game as Boise State took care of business in a 21-7 win over UNLV in a game with CFP autobid stakes. After holding superstar running back Ashton Jeanty to his "worst" performance of the season in Boise's slim 29-24 win in October, Jeanty made a strong final Heisman case with a 209-yard performance while leading the Broncos to the CFP, where they will draw the winner of Penn State and SMU as the No. 3 seed.

For UNLV, the loss was quickly followed by the news on Sunday that head coach Barry Odom would be leaving to take the job at Purdue.

AAC: Army 35, Tulane 14

This game lost some luster when Tulane's College Football Playoff hopes came to an end with a loss to Memphis in Week 14, and the Green Wave looked like a team that had the wind taken out of its sails on Friday night. They couldn't stop the run against Memphis, and against an option Army team, things were even worse as Tulane allowed 338 yards on the ground in a game that was never particularly competitive.

Army moves to 11-1 and wins the AAC in its first season as a member. With a win over Navy on Saturday, Jeff Monken would deliver the first 12-win season in program history. While it was a disappointing finish to the season for Tulane, it got a major boost when it announced an extension for coach Jon Sumrall amid interest from open Power Four jobs, namely North Carolina.

Big 12: Arizona State 45, Iowa State 19

Arizona State entered the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the nation with wins in its last five, and it looked the part in a dominant Big 12 title win over Iowa State to punch its ticket to the College Football Playoff. The Cyclones simply had no answer for star running back Cam Skattebo, who went for 170 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Sam Leavitt was efficient and tossed three touchdowns.

Iowa State managed to move the ball early in the game, and the score was within a touchdown in the final minute of the first half. But touchdowns to end and start the second half helped Arizona State pull away for good.

After finishing near the bottom of the Pac-12 last season and being picked to finish dead last in its first season as a member of the Big 12, Arizona State has won the league in Year 1 and, thanks to Clemson's win over SMU, coach Kenny Dillingham has led the Sun Devils to a CFP bye in Year 1.

While it was a disappointing finish for the Cyclones, who will miss the CFP, their 10-3 mark is the best in Matt Campbell's nine-year tenure. They'll go for win No. 11 against Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

MAC: Ohio 38, Miami (Oh) 3

Lisan al-Gaib? Timothée Chalamet was the only College GameDay picker to take the underdog Bobcats on Saturday, and it turned out to be a brilliant pick as they rolled to a dominant win in the MAC title. Quarterback Parker Navarro took over the game, just as Chalamet predicted, totaling four touchdowns and more than 300 yards with his arm and legs.

Ohio won its first MAC title since 1968 as coach Tim Albin has now won 10 games in three straight seasons. Unfortunately, the good vibes ended early as Albin left in short order to become the head coach at Charlotte.

Miami failed to repeat as MAC champions, but it was still a nice season for a Redhawks program that has won 19 games over the last two years.

SEC: Georgia 22, Texas 19

Texas outgained Georgia 260-54 in the first half of a rematch in the SEC championship game, but that only resulted in a 6-3 advantage on the scoreboard heading into the locker room. Despite losing quarterback Carson Beck with an elbow injury that's likely to keep him out of the Sugar Bowl, the Bulldogs came out of the locker room with a touchdown drive from backup quarterback Gunner Stockton, who didn't do much to reverse UGA's offensive woes but provided a bit of a spark with his legs.

Despite ultimately throwing for 358 yards, Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense struggled to complete drives, a problem that was exacerbated by a late interception. The game ultimately went to overtime, where Georgia running back Trevor Etienne won the game after a Longhorns field goal on the first possession.

Both teams' defenses showed out in this game, and it's hard not to be impressed by Georgia's win given how it has performed down the stretch at times. But with the offense continuing to look like a weak link and Beck's status for the CFP in question, it's hard to gauge which Bulldogs team will show up in that Sugar Bowl.

Texas, meanwhile, now faces the "punishment" of hosting a home playoff game against a three-loss Clemson team after coming up just short in its bid to win the SEC in Year 1.

Sun Belt: Marshall 31, Louisiana 3

While the Sun Belt title game didn't have any impact on the CFP field, it was home to one of the wilder storylines from the weekend. The game itself was a bit of a snooze as Marshall went on the road to beat Louisiana in dominant fashion. However, just minutes after the end of the game, rumors began to circulate that coach Charles Huff, whose deal expires after the season, would leave for Sun Belt rival Southern Miss, which is coming off a 1-11 season.

It seems this move was in the works before the game as the hiring was announced on Sunday. The same day, Marshall hired NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson to replace him, and reports of Gibson's hire in Huntington began to circulate before Huff even officially left.

Big Ten: Oregon 45, Penn State 37

Well, I certainly didn't have more than 80 total points in Indianapolis on my bingo card. Oregon's offense was absolutely dominant in this game, and Tez Johnson looks like a weapon that will cause any CFP defense fits after going for 181 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches.

But Penn State's offense impressed in this game, keeping up in a shootout and having a chance to tie it at the end before a Drew Allar interception ended the comeback bid. Allar wasn't particularly efficient and tossed a pair of picks, but he did have some downfield passing success. The ground game was the real star, with Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton each racking up more than 100 yards.

Though it wasn't a banner day defensively, the undefeated Ducks should probably be viewed as the national championship favorite in a season in which no one looks particularly dominant. And while losing another big game under James Franklin is frustrating for Penn State, this game showed the Nittany Lions are capable of keeping pace offensively if need be.

ACC: Clemson 34, SMU 31

The first half of the ACC championship was all Clemson as the Tigers jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead and held a 31-14 advantage entering the fourth quarter. But a valiant SMU comeback effort led by quarterback Kevin Jennings not only tied the game in the final seconds: It also likely secured the Mustangs a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Clemson ultimately won the game, quickly getting in position to try and make a 56-yard field goal. And while we'll never know for sure if the Mustangs would still be in if they had lost by multiple scores, it's certainly not unthinkable that they wouldn't be.

It was an impressive showing for the Tigers, as Cade Klubnik put the team on his back to total 262 yards and four touchdowns through the air, and while a three-loss season and defeats against rival South Carolina in two of the last three years aren't great for Dabo Swinney, the Tigers are back in the CFP with a chance to compete for a national title.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: SMU's comeback effort seals the deal, Oregon looks like the team to beat and other takeaways from every college football conference championship game