Rivalry week is here. College football wrapped up one of its most consequential Black Fridays ever, with Ole Miss winning in the Egg Bowl despite the Lane Kiffin drama, and Texas ending Texas A&M’s bid for an undefeated season. The action continues on Saturday, with plenty of games left open that will help decide the matchups for next week’s nine conference championships.
A few big matchups have already been determined by the end of the noon games on Saturday. Ohio State and Indiana will play the game we’ve all been waiting to see next Saturday to decide the Big Ten. Texas Tech and BYU will play their second game of the year for the Big 12 title. The MAC championship is also set.
Other leagues still have plenty to figure out (scroll down for a truly wild scenario to decide the Mountain West Championship). As we continue towards the reveal of the College Football Playoff field next Sunday, here is where things stand for every FBS-level conference championship game.
This story will be updated live as games are decided. Check back here for an up-to-date look at the conference championship slate.
American Conference
Matchup: Tulane vs. North Texas — Location: Yulman Stadium, New Orleans; Friday, December 5, 8 p.m. ET; ABC
North Texas (11–1, 7–1 American) secured one of the two spots in the conference championships with a dominant 52–28 win over Temple on Friday night. The Mean Green will hit the road to face Tulane (10–2, 7–1 American) which blanked Charlotte on Saturday, eliminating Navy (9–2, 7–1 American) from contention. The winner of this game is expected to earn a CFP berth as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. The Green Wave are currently No. 24 in the selection committee rankings.
Relevant results for the American Conference championship game
*Bold indicates a team is a conference championship contender
Atlantic Coast Conference
Matchup: Virginia vs. Duke — Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte; Saturday, December 6, 8 p.m. ET; ABC
Six ACC teams remained alive for the ACC championship game entering Saturday’s action. The matchup came down to a late decision in Cal vs. SMU. Virginia (10–2, 7–1 ACC) advanced to the title game with its win over Virginia Tech. With SMU (8–4, 6–2 ACC)’s dramatic loss at Cal, they lose out on the second spot in favor of Duke (7–5, 6–2 ACC), which remarkably makes it to Charlotte via tiebreakers over the Mustangs and Miami, Pitt and Georgia Tech.
The Hurricanes (10–2, 6–2 ACC) entered the day as the league’s highest ranked team and eliminated Pitt with a blowout road win Saturday, but due to tiebreakers, they were eliminated with Virginia’s win.
Georgia Tech (9–3, 6–2 ACC) was eliminated with Duke’s win over Wake Forest. Their loss to Georgia on Friday night did not impact the ACC race.
Relevant results for the ACC championship game
*Bold indicates a team is a conference championship contender
Big 12 Conference
Matchup: Texas Tech vs. BYU — Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas; Saturday, December 6, 12 p.m. ET; ABC
Texas Tech (10–1, 7–1 Big 12) and BYU (10–1, 7–1 Big 12) clinched their appearances in the Big 12 title game on Friday, before either team kicked off for the week. Arizona State’s loss to Arizona put the Red Raiders and Cougars through, as both teams own a tiebreaker over Utah. The Sun Devils and Utes each entered the week with scenarios to make the championship, but those are no longer alive.
Texas Tech beat BYU in the regular season, 29–7 in Lubbock.
Big Ten Conference
Matchup: Indiana vs. Ohio State — Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis; Saturday, December 6, 8 p.m. ET; Fox
Indiana (12–0, 9–0 Big Ten) clinched a spot in the title game with its win over Purdue Friday night. Ohio State (11–0, 8–0 Big Ten) did the same with a win at Michigan on Saturday. The results eliminate Oregon and Michigan, who entered Saturday with chances to reach Indianapolis. The winner of the Big Ten championship will almost certainly earn the No. 1 seed in the CFP.
Conference USA
Matchup: Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State — Location: AmFirst Stadium, Jacksonville, Ala.; Friday, December 5, 7 p.m. ET; CBS Sports Network
Three teams entered the day alive for two spots, and two of those teams faced off Saturday. Jacksonville State (8–4, 7–1 CUSA) beat Western Kentucky (8–4, 6–2 CUSA) 37–34 to clinch a spot in the game. Because Kennesaw State (9–3, 7–1 CUSA) made it through thanks to a tiebreaker over Western Kentucky, but went on to defeat Liberty on Saturday as well, 48–42.
Jax State won a regular season game between the two sides 35–26 on Nov. 15.
Relevant results for the Conference USA championship game
*Bold indicates a team is a conference championship contender
Mid-American Conference
Matchup: Western Michigan vs. Miami (Ohio) — Location: Ford Field, Detroit; Saturday, December 6, 12 p.m. ET; ESPN
Western Michigan (8–4, 7–1 MAC) punched its ticket to Detroit with a 31–21 win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday. The Broncos will face Miami (Ohio) (7–5, 6–2), which defeated Ball State 45–24 on Saturday and gets through on tiebreakers. The RedHawks won a regular season matchup against WMU, 26–17.
Mountain West Conference
Matchup: TBD — Location: TBD; Friday, December 5, 8 p.m. ET; Fox
After New Mexico’s (9–3, 6–2 MWC) win over San Diego State (9–3, 6–2 MWC) on Friday, this one is an absolute mess. The Lobos and Aztecs have identical conference records, as does Boise State (8–4, 6–2 MWC) after the Broncos’ Friday win. UNLV (10–2, 6–2 MWC) joined the fracas with a Saturday win against Nevada.
Because the group cannot be decided by tiebreakers, the Mountain West will leave it up to the computers. From the conference release on the situation:
“The metrics used to determine the game’s participants will be a composite average of Connelly SP+, ESPN SOR, KPI and SportSource rankings. Once the two participants are determined, the tie will revert to a head-to-head comparison to determine the host, proceeding again to the metrics if the teams did not play each other this season.
“If the tied group includes just Boise State, New Mexico and San Diego State, the group all went 1–1 against each other. Since the tie could not be broken by head-to-head results, computer metrics would break the tie. The top two teams in that group will advance as participants for the MW Championship game, reverting to a two-team tiebreaker to determine the host.
“If UNLV joins the tied group, all four teams did not face each other, so the tie would again need to be broken by the computer metrics. The top two teams would advance as participants to the title game, with the two reverting to a two-team tiebreaker to determine the game’s host.”
Relevant results for the Mountain West championship game
*Bold indicates a team is a conference championship contender
Southeastern Conference
Matchup: Georgia vs. Alabama — Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta; Saturday, December 6, 4 p.m. ET; ABC
Georgia (11–1, 7–1 SEC) clinched an SEC championship berth with Texas A&M’s loss to Texas, which eliminated the previously undefeated Aggies. They will face Alabama (9–2, 6–1 SEC) after the Crimson Tide survived Saturday’s Iron Bowl. Mississippi (11–1, 7–1 SEC) would have advance after beating Mississippi State in Friday’s Egg Bowl, had Alabama lost, but the Rebels lost a tiebreaker to the Tide. Georgia’s win over Georgia Tech Friday did not factor into the SEC scenarios.
The Crimson Tide beat the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga. 27–24, earlier this season. Georgia is expected to be safe to make the College Football Playoff no matter what happens in Atlanta, while two-loss Alabama may still have something to play for beyond the conference title (though after SMU reached the CFP despite an ACC championship loss, the prevailing logic is that Alabama should be safe with an Iron Bowl win).
Relevant results for the SEC championship game
*Bold indicates a team is a conference championship contender
Sun Belt Conference
Matchup: James Madison vs. Troy — Location: Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, Va.; Friday, December 5, 7 p.m. ET; ESPN
While every other conference has shifted away from divisions, the Sun Belt looks pretty logical in its decision to keep its East/West alignment. James Madison (10–1, 7–0 SBC) has already locked up the East Division and the chance to host the SBC championship with an undefeated league record. Saturday’s game against Coastal Carolina is important, as JMU can potentially sneak a CFP bid if chaos reigns in the American and/or ACC and the Dukes go 12–1, though it looks unlikely as they are not yet ranked.
In the West, Troy (8–4, 6–2 SBC) defeated Southern Miss (7–5, 5–3 SBC) at home to claim the division title on Saturday. Easy enough. The Trojans did not face JMU in the regular season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Conference Championship Tracker: Every Team to Clinch a Title Game Spot.
