College Football Rankings: Which conference championships hold the most weight for CFP?

The college football regular season wrapped up in Week 14 with some pretty big upsets that will likely have a humongous impact on Tuesday's latest College Football Playoff rankings.

Once we know how much teams have risen or slipped, then fans will turn their eyes to this weekend for conference championships. It'll be the final test to determine which 12 teams are actually contenders and which have simply been pretenders this whole time.

Exactly five of the nine conference championship games scheduled to be played Friday and Saturday will have direct impacts on the College Football Playoff. Specifically, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Mountain West.

Which conference championship games will have the most impact on the CFP?

Let's take a look at the five conference championship games that we already know will have direct consequences for the playoff bracket.

ACC Championship: SMU (11-1) v. Clemson (9-3)

The loser of this game was once thought to be safely in the playoff bracket due to the SEC having several bubble teams earn their third loss over the last two weeks. But with Miami (10-2) falling to Syracuse (9-3) on Saturday, giving Clemson an open backdoor to Charlotte, that's not the case any longer.

The selection committee will not consider a four-loss Clemson team for the bracket, which broaches the possibility of a three-loss SEC team getting one of the final at-large bids. The Hurricanes have no practical path back into the bracket, especially if Clemson ends up winning this game. However, SMU could potentially be victimized and left out if the committee views its second loss to be too inferior to forgive.

Big 12 Championship: Arizona State (10-2) v. Iowa State (10-2)

This game will likely determine the team seeded 12th in the bracket no matter what happens elsewhere. There are, of course, scenarios where the Big 12 champion can reach as high as the four-seed and a first-round bye. But it's assured that the loser will not make the final bracket as strength of schedule will only be a detriment in the eyes of the committee when compared to an SEC bubble team.

Arizona State seems to be playing with house money this season, picked to finish last in the Big 12 preseason media poll, now within one win from a shot at a national championship. That's something the Sun Devils haven't seen or felt since the 1996-97 season. Iowa State on the other hand, has taken full advantage of the rest of the conference's top teams stumbling at the finish line when it was left for dead after falling to Kansas in Week 11.

These are two of the most dangerous and hottest teams in college football right now, either one would prove deadly to the home team in round one.

SEC Championship: Texas (11-1) v. Georgia (10-2)

The playoff hopes of the SEC will be on the line in this matchup. A Georgia loss will do one of two things: Either the Dawgs will dropped out of the field entirely (which would go against the committee's long-standing policy of rewarding conference championship game appearances) or a bubble team like Alabama or South Carolina will be left out.

A Texas revenge game would solidify the Longhorns' position in the Top 4. But to lose a second time to Georgia could inadvertently boost the Crimson Tide's resume and earn the SEC yet another bid. Either way, both teams should be solidly in the 12-team field. Any sudden diversion from that outcome would mean something else entirely chaotic has taken place across the spectrum.

Big Ten Championship: Oregon (12-0) v. Penn State (11-1)

The winner likely clinches the No. 1 seed in the bracket and the loser would still be hosting a first-round matchup. However, those positions are not entirely interchangeable. An Oregon loss would probably see the Ducks only fall as far as the No. 5 seed. A Penn State loss would see the Nittany Lions potentially fall to the 8-seed or perhaps even lower given Ohio State (10-2) has the head-to-head win.

Either way, both teams are assuredly in the playoff field. There's no scenario where either one misses out with a loss but with the Buckeyes stumbling against Michigan in Week 14, the result could push at least one Big Ten team out of the field. The likeliest repercussions will be concerning seeding instead of qualification.

Mountain West Championship: Boise State (11-1) v. UNLV (10-2)

While the loser is most certainly out of the playoff, this game already has a likely outcome given its a rematch from earlier in the year. Boise State avoided an upset bid by the Rebels in late October on the back of likely Heisman Trophy finalist running back Ashton Jeanty. If he produces yet another signature performance then the Broncos should have no problem getting into the playoff and probably clinching the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye.

On the other hand, a UNLV upset would ensure that the Big 12 champion swaps places and takes the 4-seed and first round bye instead. It would be quite the final twist in the college football season to see a team that was never considered to be a playoff contender at any point in the year to clinch the final spot in the bracket and put a bow on the chaos.