It has already been a wild Championship Week — and there are still two games to go. No. 8 Alabama taking down No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game has all but punted the Bulldogs from competing for a third straight national championship — barring some more upsets — and put the Crimson Tide in a head-to-head debate with the one team that defeated them this season, No. 7 Texas.

The Longhorns, which thoroughly took down the Tide by 10 points on the road at Bryant-Denny Stadium back in Week 2, completed their campaign with a dominant 49-21 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game.

With only three undefeated Power Five teams remaining following the Georgia loss, Texas is now projected as the fourth seed in the playoff over Alabama by virtue of the ‘Horns head-to-head victory back on Sept. 9.

The CFP Selection Committee will use criteria including championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results (if applicable) and comparative outcomes against common opponents in making its determinations. Texas and Alabama both won conference titles Saturday, and while the ‘Horns have a tougher strength of schedule, the Tide have more wins over CFP-ranked teams — four (including over No. 1) vs. three.

The SEC has sent at least one team to every playoff since the event’s inception; however, no program has made the playoff when placed No. 7 or lower in the penultimate CFP Rankings. Both Texas and Alabama will look to buck the latter trend.

The Tide’s best remaining path to ensuring themselves a spot in the playoff is a loss by Michigan (vs. Iowa) or Florida State (vs. Louisville) in their respective conference title games Saturday night.

Another significant development took place in determining the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six. SMU upset No. 22 Tulane in the AAC Championship Game on Saturday, handing the Green Wave their second loss of the season, while No. 24 Liberty remained undefeated with two-touchdown win over New Mexico State on Friday in the Conference USA Championship Game.

As such, I project Liberty to jump Tulane in the final CFP Rankings, emerging as the top Group of Five team and earning a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Missouri.

We are breaking down (live) each team’s path to the College Football Playoff later this week with two league title games underway, and we will update these bowl projections after the conclusions of the Big Ten and ACC games.

College Football Playoff

New Year’s Six bowl games

Don’t see your team? Check out Jerry Palm’s bowl projections updating live as Championship Week progresses.

The body of a traveling nurse from Michigan who went missing two weeks ago has been found in California.

Ann Herford, 66, of Elkin, west of Bad Axe in the Thumb region, was reported missing Nov. 15 after not showing up for work at Adventist Health in Sonara, Calif., the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Herford had last been seen near a trailhead of the Arnold Rim Trail, a densely forested area in Arnold, California.

Her body was found Thursday morning north of where her car was originally parked, not within the trail system, in a “35-degree sloped hillside beneath heavy tree canopy and dense foliage,” the sheriff’s office said.

Due to the terrain, her body was transported by a California Highway Patrol aircraft, the sheriff’s office said.

Herford’s family told authorities she enjoyed hiking but lacked wilderness survival skills and never planned to hike for more than a few miles at a time.

The Air National Guard, U.S. Army Aircraft, numerous state and county departments and volunteers assisted in air and ground searches.

The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said detectives are still investigating the incident, but the circumstances of Herford’s death do not appear suspicious.