DALLAS — It's been a good year for college football in Texas. In fact, among the 12 teams that will make the College Football Playoff, at least two from Texas are sure-fire bets to make the field, at least one other controls their own destiny, and a fourth could play the role of Cinderella.

And that's not even including the Texas Longhorns, who still have a chance, albeit a long shot, to grab a bid.

Here's where the contending teams from Texas currently stand, as of Sunday, Nov. 30:

Texas A&M

The Aggies lost to rival Texas on Friday night, but it's not all bad in College Station: At 11-1, Texas A&M has all but clinched its spot in the College Football Playoff. And if you're really trying to look at the bright side, they get an extra week off by not having to play in the SEC Championship Game.

Verdict: In

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders blew the brakes off West Virginia on Saturday, 49-0, to finish 11-1 on the regular season. The victory also officially clinched Tech's spot in the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&T Stadium, which, no doubt, will be packed to the brim with Red Raiders (and likely a few BYU fans, too). Texas Tech would do well to avoid stumbling against BYU, which it handled easily in Lubbock earlier this season. But even with a loss, Tech will likely clinch an at-large bid in the playoffs.

Verdict: Pretty much in

SMU

Well look who it is ... SMU stumbled early this season, but a win over Miami sent the Mustangs into overdrive, and they've dominated the ACC ever since. Now, they're one win away (at California on Saturday night) from securing a spot in the ACC Championship Game. Likewise, Virginia can clinch a spot in the title game with a win over Virginia Tech on Saturday night. If SMU wins the ACC Championship Game, they'll clinch automatically clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Update: Welp, that was awkward. After we outlined how SMU controlled their own playoff destiny (see above), the Mustangs laid an egg Saturday night against California, which fired its coach earlier this week. SMU fell behind early, managed to come back, gave up the lead with less than a minute, and then missed a long field goal that would have tied the game. The Mustangs finished 8-4 on the season -- a solid year, but not one that will end with a playoff berth.

Verdict: Out

North Texas

The Mean Green may have lost their coach (for next season, at least), but Eric Morris still has his squad in position to clinch a Cinderella spot in the playoff. At 11-1, North Texas will face Tulane in the American Championship Game. A win over Tulane would do two things: It would make North Texas a conference champion, and it would, in all likelihood, propel them above James Madison in the eyes of the playoff committee. The latter is crucial since the playoff includes the top five conference champions. James Madison is likely to win the Sun Belt Conference, and the Dukes have jockeyed with UNT in the AP poll this season. So while it's not 100% clear where the committee views UNT compared to JMU, a Mean Green win over ranked Tulane should place UNT higher -- and in the playoff.

Verdict: Win and they're likely in

Texas

Steve Sarkisian stated his case, and honestly, he might have a point: If the Longhorns had not scheduled (and lost to) top-ranked Ohio State this season, they'd likely have a spot in the playoff secured. On the flip side, if they hadn't lost to 3-8 Florida, the same could be said. Texas entered Saturday needing several iterations of chaos, at least in the form of losses by Oklahoma, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Miami. But those four teams won Saturday, and Notre Dame, another two-loss team ahead of Texas, was handling Stanford, 28-0 in the first half.

Also, BYU won and clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game against Texas Tech. The Longhorns were running out of options, unless the committee feels the need to place them over several two-loss teams.

Verdict: Chaos reigns, and maybe they're in

Best of the rest

TCU and Houston won't make the playoff, but both programs have solid seasons. Houston wrapped up a 9-3 regular season with a win over Baylor (5-7) on Saturday. TCU was looking to get to 8-4, hosting Cincinnati at home Saturday afternoon.