College football conference championship game preview

The Bowl Subdivision conference championship games are finally decided after weeks of uncertainty, setting the stage for the final weekend of the regular season and the final College Football Playoff rankings.

The nine championship games will be played on Friday and Saturday. The playoff rankings and bracket will be released early Sunday afternoon.

Almost every game will have some kind of impact on the playoffs. The three exceptions are the Conference USA, Mid-American and Sun Belt championship games, as those leagues do not play a role in determining which Group of Five team receives an automatic playoff bid.

That spot goes to American Athletic or Mountain West, with those two title games scheduled to take place simultaneously on Friday night. The matchup in the MWC is expected to be between Boise State and UNLV, although that won’t be official until Tuesday night in the second-to-last playoff standings. Each Power Four match has at least an impact on the seedings and which teams receive byes in the opening round.

These games close the door on a crazy regular season and prepare us for the postseason:

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

The Tigers were able to sneak into this game after Miami lost a shootout to Syracuse. After losing to South Carolina on Saturday, beating SMU is Clemson’s only chance to make the playoffs. The Mustangs would have been a strong contender with a one-loss loss to Miami, but that might not be the case had they lost to the three-loss Tigers. The odds are increasing that the ACC is a one-bid league.

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

This is a win-and-in matchup between two teams with 10 wins each that took slightly different paths to the title game. Iowa State was 7-0 before losing games to Texas Tech and Kansas; The Cyclones bounced back, beating Cincinnati, Utah and Kansas State and reaching Arlington, Texas, for the second time in Matt Campbell’s tenure. Arizona State is playing for the Big 12 championship in its first season in the league after making an appearance in the Pac-12 title game in 2013. The Sun Devils enter Saturday on a five-game winning streak, highlighted by wins over Kansas State and Brigham Young. While these two didn’t meet in the regular season, Arizona State lost to Cincinnati but beat Kansas, if that means anything.

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

Since both teams are in the playoffs, this will determine which Big Ten team receives a bye to advance to the playoffs and which hosts a visitor in the first round. The loser could end up at No. 5, which has two big advantages: first, that they get the No. 12 seed, and second, that they can potentially compete with Boise State in the quarterfinals. The Ducks should secure the No. 1 overall seed with a win. If the Nittany Lions prevail, they could compete with Georgia or Texas of the SEC for the position.

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

The rematch should be more competitive than Georgia’s 30-15 win in Austin earlier this year. While the Bulldogs struggled in an eight-overtime classic against Georgia Tech, Texas overcame some major sloppiness in the second half to cruise to a 17-7 win at Texas A&M. This means the Longhorns will make the playoffs regardless of what happens on Saturday. The same isn’t necessarily true for Georgia, as a third loss would draw comparisons to fellow three-loss rivals Alabama and Mississippi, which beat the Bulldogs.

American Athletic: Tulane (9-3) at Army (10-1)

The Black Knights, the host team, posted a perfect 8-0 record in the league and finished first in the final standings. They’ll keep an eye on the scoreboard and hope for an upset in the Mountain West. With a loss to Boise State and a win against Tulane, the Black Knights would have a case to be the Group of Five pick for the playoffs. But even that isn’t certain, as UNLV would have its own case.

Conference USA: Western Kentucky (8-4) at Jacksonville State (8-4)

Yes, these two teams meet again on Friday night, six days after Western Kentucky defeated Jacksonville State 19-17 to clinch a spot in the Conference USA title game. Thanks to the direct duel with Sam Houston State, the Hilltoppers were able to take second place in the overall ranking. The big question heading into this matchup: How much did Rich Rodriguez and the Gamecocks show Western Kentucky on Saturday knowing they could meet again less than a week later? Jacksonville State had won eight straight, scoring at least 31 points in every game but one.

MAC: Ohio (9-3) and Miami (Ohio) (8-4)

Both teams are on the move. Ohio has won five straight, including two decisive wins over Buffalo and Toledo, and Miami has won seven straight, capped by Friday’s win over Bowling Green. These teams met on October 19th, with the RedHawks scoring a 30-20 victory. Miami is looking for back-to-back MAC titles for the first time since 1973-75, while Ohio is seeking the program’s first league title since 1968.

Mountain West: UNLV (10-2) at Boise State (11-1)

With one win, Boise State will be in the playoffs and perhaps even one of the top four conference champions. However, the same can be said for UNLV, which rose to No. 22 in last week’s playoff rankings. The MWC tiebreaker between UNLV and Colorado State will come down to which team is ranked higher on Tuesday night, and the Rebels are sure to stay in the rankings. Army was no longer ranked after the loss to Notre Dame and Tulane was No. 17, although the Green Wave most likely won’t be included in this week’s rankings. That suggests the Mountain West winner will be the Group of Five representative in the playoffs.

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