This weekend’s conference championships will shape the College Football Playoff field

The GIST: It’s officially conference championship time, and tomorrow’s games come with College Football Playoff (CFP) spots on the line. After teasing us all season, the selection committee will turn around and drop the official 12-team CFP field on Sunday.

• Here are the biggest games to watch ahead of a massive, must-see Saturday slate.

🌪️ No. 16 Iowa State vs. 😈 No. 15 Arizona State — 12 p.m. ET — ABC: The Sun Devils are one of the hottest teams in the country with five straight wins, while Iowa State earned a spot in the Big 12 title game thanks to freshman quarterback (QB) Rocco Becht, who’s thrown for an impressive 3,021 yards this season. On the line? An automatic CFP bid. No pressure.

🐶 No. 5 Georgia vs. 🐮 No. 2 Texas — 4 p.m. ET — ABC: A rematch of an October matchup that Georgia won decisively thanks to its defense, the stakes are significantly higher this time around with the SEC Championship…and a likely first-round CFP bye up for grabs.

• Plus, while the Bulldogs were nearly upset last week, Texas has improved since their loss, posting ranked wins over then-No. 25 Vanderbilt and then-No. 20 Texas A&M. Rematch ready.

🐱 No. 3 Penn State vs. 🦆 No. 1 Oregon — 8 p.m. ET — CBS: A clash of two high-powered titans, both teams are all but locks for the CFP, so they’ll be playing for seeding and a potential bye. Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel will have his hands full with a Penn State defense that allows just 267 yards per game — the fourth-best mark in the country.

• Penn State’s been relatively untested for the majority of the year, while the Ducks have led the CFP poll for the past five weeks.

🐯 No. 17 Clemson vs. 🐴 No. 8 SMU — 8 p.m. ET — ABC: This game brings all the drama. If SMU wins, three-loss No. 11 Alabama (who aren’t playing this weekend) will likely snag the final at-large CFP spot.

• But if Clemson wins the ACC Championship, the Tigers will earn an auto-bid, sparking a debate over whether SMU or Alabama deserves that final spot. Watch this space.