With Conference Championships coming this weekend, the College Football Playoff Picture is becoming more and more clear as some of the dust begins to settle. Here is a look at what we can expect to see unfold this weekend, and what implications these results will have on the playoff picture.

Standing at the one seed for the better part of November, the Clemson Tigers (12-0) have a pretty simple formula, win the ACC Championship and earn the top overall seed or lose to North Carolina and go home. The Tigers have played well all season, but don’t have the battled tested résumé as some of their SEC and Big-12 counterparts. The Tigers do boast wins against Notre Dame and Florida State and will be a stern test should they defeat the #10-ranked Tar Heels this weekend.

The second seed will likely fall to the Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1). Nick Saban’s men will go to war with the Florida Gators this Saturday for the SEC Championship. Should the Tide roll through the Gators as many expect, Alabama will be a horrifying test for anyone in their path. Derrick Henry has been an absolute beast running behind the Alabama offensive line. If the Heisman candidate keeps getting the 40+ touches that Saban has been feeding him, the Crimson Tide should be able to continue to dominate field position and time of possession with their elite defense and dominate the line of scrimmage. It will be very difficult for any team to dismantle a group as disciplined as this Alabama team.

One school that may get that chance is the University of Oklahoma (11-1). The Sooners are off this weekend, as the Big-12 doesn’t have a championship game. Baker Mayfield has been playing some incredible quarterback down the stretch for an Oklahoma team that has defeated three consecutive ranked opponents down the stretch to earn a right in the playoff. Without playing this week, the Sooners have seemingly already cemented their place in the final four.

The last team I expect to make it into the College Football Playoff will be the winner of the Iowa (12-0) vs. Michigan State (11-1) game to decide the Big 10. The Hawkeyes have been one of the biggest surprises of the year, barely cracking the top-25 to begin the season but they haven’t lost yet. In the weaker of the two Big 10 divisions, Iowa has avoided OSU, Michigan and Michigan State up to this point, but the Hawkeyes will have a chance to prove they are legit and earn a spot into the four-team playoff. Many experts anticipate that the Spartans and their big-game experience will come through in this game to claim a date with Clemson in the National Semifinal.

While there is still a fleeting sense of hope in the Ohio State and Stanford camps, the playoff should consist of an undefeated Clemson, a one loss Big 12 Champion in Oklahoma, a one loss SEC champion in Alabama, and the winner of the Big 10 championship, which is an effective play-in game. North Carolina can spice things up with a win over Clemson. This would put the Tar Heels at 12-1 with an ACC Championship, hypothetically ahead of the Clemson Tigers. In this instance the Tar Heels may vault themselves into the Playoff Picture, or open the door for a team like the Buckeyes. In its second year of existenct the College Playoff system is definitely creating excitement as we prepare for two great matchups. This playoff system, however, is not solving any of the controversy it was put in place to try and prevent.