Conference Championships

While last weekend’s results may have cleared up the College Football Playoff picture, an old fashioned upset or two in this weekend’s conference championship games might confuse what is now seemingly a settled situation.

In total, eight conference games will be played over the weekend, however, only three will directly affect the playoff.  The winner of the Big Ten tilt between Michigan State and Iowa should secure a spot in the final four.  If North Carolina upsets Clemson in the ACC game the Tigers could face elimination and possibly vault the Tar Heels into the final four or even eliminate the ACC altogether.  Moving on to the SEC, if the Gators put a stop to the Crimson Tide, Alabama would likely lose any chance of playoff contention.  The teams that might benefit from possible upsets are Stanford who meets Southern California in the Pac 12 title game and idle Ohio State.

History shows us that an upset has occurred more than once in a conference championship. The SEC Championship has given us six games where a lower ranked team has won. SIX!! The Big Ten has had only three. Lastly, the ACC has had only two of ten games end in an upset but the Pac 12 has yet to see a game end in that form of fashion.

Other college football conference championships to be decided are the MAC (Bowling Green/Northern Illinois), CUSA (Southern Mississippi/Western Kentucky), AAC (Houston/Temple) and MWC (Air Force/San Diego State).

The conference championship not only reflects the best records of the top teams but also signifies the ending of the regular season. The regular season brought us thrills and chills but the conference championship is probably the most difficult game for any college football fan to get through. No doubt the Hall will be buzzing with Florida and Alabama fans over the weekend for SEC Championship but we always open our doors to fans of every team and conference.  Seasons are on the line and playoffs will be determined on Saturday – it doesn’t get much better than that. What a great time to be a FAN!