The 12-team college football playoff field has been revealed, with play starting December 20th

The GIST: The wait is over. An exhilarating regular season wrapped up on Saturday, as conference champions were crowned and teams punched their tickets to the inaugural 12-team CFP field. From auto bids, to at-large selections, to those left on the outside looking in, here’s how it all shook out:

Who’s in: The top ducks — uh, dogs — since late October, undefeated No. 1 Oregon outfire-powered Penn State 45–37 to win the Big Ten title and secure a first-round bye, along with three other conference champs: No. 2 Georgia (SEC), No. 3 Boise State (Mountain West), and No. 4 Arizona State (Big 12).

• As a refresher, the five highest-ranked conference winners received automatic bids, with the top four earning byes.

• Rounding out the field are SEC runners-up No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 10 Indiana, No. 11 SMU, and ACC champs No. 12 Clemson.

Who’s out: Alabama (more on them below) and Miami were the first teams to miss the 12-team field, followed by Ole Miss and South Carolina. Miami finished the season 10-2 but didn’t play for the ACC title, while the other three ended their seasons with three losses in the competitive SEC.

The controversy: Any college football postseason that doesn’t feature 18-time national champion Alabama is bound to have people talking. The Crimson Tide just missed out, despite having a stronger strength of schedule and more ranked wins than SMU. What’s the playoffs without a little drama?