The final College Football Playoff bracket will be finalized on Sunday, giving teams from across the nation the chance to discover if their hopes for a national championship are still alive, albeit faintly for some.

However, the playoff selection committee provided valuable insights on Tuesday regarding which teams are in contention and which are likely to be left out—especially some notable programs with a history of winning championships.

Despite facing some setbacks in its debut season under coach Kalen DeBoer, Alabama held the No. 11 spot in the playoff committee’s latest rankings revealed on Tuesday evening, placing them ahead of No. 12 Miami, No. 13 Ole Miss, and No. 14 South Carolina.

None of these teams are set to compete in conference championship games this weekend, which means their regular seasons and playoff qualifications are concluded. There is still a possibility that Alabama could miss out on the 12-team playoff, but the three teams ranked immediately behind them have essentially been ruled out of contention.

Much of the spotlight was on Alabama, which has a record of 9-3, as it ranked higher than 10-2 Miami. The Hurricanes, rated No. 6 in last week’s rankings, plummeted six positions after a close 42-38 defeat against Syracuse, currently ranked No. 22.

So, what exactly gave Alabama the edge over Miami?

“The decisive factors were that Alabama has a 3-1 record against current top-25 teams while Miami is at 0-1,” said Warde Manuel, chair of the playoff selection committee, in an interview with ESPN after the top 25 was announced. “Additionally, Alabama has won 6 out of their 7 matches against teams with winning records, while Miami is 4-2. Although both teams had some disappointing losses, Miami faced two defeats in their last three matches. In reviewing their overall performance, we decided Alabama deserved to rank higher than Miami.”

Miami started the season strong at 9-0, climbing to as high as No. 4 in the committee rankings. However, they faltered towards the end, losing two of their last three games, both determined by a total of just nine points, against Georgia Tech and Syracuse. With quarterback Cam Ward, a strong candidate for the Heisman Trophy, the Hurricanes lead the FBS with a scoring offense averaging 44.2 points per game.

Despite lacking a win against any current top-25 team—as noted by Manuel—Miami has achieved victories over two teams, Duke and Louisville, that are receiving votes in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, which together have a record of 17-7.

On the other hand, Alabama boasts one of the season’s standout victories—a 41-34 triumph against then-No. 1 Georgia on September 28—although they also suffered losses to two teams that ended with 6-6 records, namely Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.

Manuel, who is also the athletic director at Michigan, indicated that the committee will take a careful look at the outcomes of the championship games. However, they won’t modify the rankings for teams like Alabama and Miami that aren’t competing in those games since “there’s no new data to consider.”

Looking at the latest rankings, it seems that the only result that could potentially exclude Alabama from the playoff is if No. 8 SMU were to lose against No. 17 Clemson in the ACC championship game. Such a scenario could allow Dabo Swinney’s Tigers to enter the playoff while perhaps not dropping the Mustangs enough to push them below Alabama.

For all other teams outside the top 11, their playoff hopes appear to be sealed.

“Any team not competing right now lacks a new data point to shift their rankings,” Manuel remarked. “Our perspective on these teams heading into the final week of championship games is set. We won’t adjust the rankings for teams that aren’t playing against others that also aren’t playing. Those championship teams’ performances will be analyzed for potential movement in rankings based on the game outcomes.”