The first season of major conference expansion has produced an interesting set of championship games this week. It’s not just about determining which team gets an automatic bid and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
Four of the nine games on Friday and Saturday will be against teams they already faced in the regular season. The Southeastern Conference game between Texas and Georgia in Atlanta is one of those rematches and one of two games against teams ranked in the top five in the Associated Press College Football Poll. .
Each Power Four game will also feature a team that was not in that conference last season. Three of the new teams, Oregon (Pac-12), Texas (Big 12) and SMU (American), were in the championship game of their previous league last year.
Not unexpectedly given the big changes in college sports, there will be some first-ever matchups, including Arizona State vs. Iowa State in the Big 12 and SMU vs. Clemson in the ACC. .
All championship games will be held on Saturday, with the exception of American Athletic, Conference USA and Mountain West, which will be played on Friday.
No. 1 Oregon State (12-0) beats No. 3 Penn State (11-1) in a Big Ten game in Indianapolis, potentially clinching the top seed in the CFP. . The Ducks are undefeated for the second time in the regular season (they also did it in 2010) and will face the Nittany Lions for the first time since the 1995 Rose Bowl.
No. 2 Texas (11-1) will give No. 5 Georgia a second chance after defeating then No. 5 Georgia. 1 Longhorns won 30-15 in Austin on October 19th. The winner will receive the SEC’s automatic CFP bid. The loser will likely be selected at large. This could lead to a third meeting of the teams.
In the Big 12 game in Arlington, Texas, No. 12 Arizona State (10-2) will face No. 16 Iowa State (10-2). The Sun Devils, a first-year member of the Big 12 and voted last in the 16-team league in the preseason poll, have won seven more games than a year ago under second-year coach Kenny Dillingham. Iowa State won 10 games for the first time in the program’s 133-year history.
Eighth-ranked SMU (11-1) will face No. 18 Clemson in Atlantic Coast Conference action in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mustangs won the American Athletic Conference title last year and went undefeated in their first season in the ACC. Clemson (9-3) advanced to the championship game with help from Syracuse, which upset Miami on Saturday.
There will be three rematches in the Group of Five championship game.
No. 19 UNLV (10-2) will play No. 10 Boise State (11-1) on the blue grass in Boise, Idaho. On October 25th, the defending champion Broncos won 29-24 in Las Vegas.
Ohio State (9-3) will face defending champion Miami (Ohio) (8-4) in Mid-American Conference action in Detroit. The Redhawks defeated Ohio State 30-20 on October 19, winning seven straight after starting 1-4. The Bobcats have won five straight.
Jacksonville State (8-4) and Western Kentucky (8-4) will meet for the second time in seven days in Conference USA action in Jacksonville, Alabama. Lucas Carneiro’s 50-yard field goal with three seconds left gave Western Kentucky a 19-17 victory Saturday.
Army (10-1) takes on Tulane (9-3) in AAC action in West Point, New York. The two teams will face each other for the first time since 2020. Tulane, last year’s conference runner-up, has won four straight against the Black Knights, who are in their first year of football, and now have a total of 13 wins, 9 losses, and 1 draw. AAC members only.
Marshall (9-3) will visit Louisiana vs. Lafayette (10-2) for a Sun Belt game. The Ragin’ Cajuns have only won the previous two championships (2021 and 2022).
college football schedule
(all eastern)
Friday, December 6th
Jacksonville St. (8-4) vs. W. Kentucky (8-4), Conference USA Championship, Jacksonville, Ala., 7 p.m.
Army (10-1) vs. Tulane (9-3), American Athletic Conference Championship, West Point, N.Y., 8 p.m.
Boise St. (11-1) vs. UNLV (10-2), Mountain West Championship, Boise, ID, 8 p.m.
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Saturday, December 7th
Miami (Ohio) (8-4) vs. Ohio (9-3), MAC Championship at Detroit, noon.
Arizona St. (10-2) vs. Iowa St. (10-2), Big 12 Championship, Arlington, Texas, noon.
Jackson Street (10-2) vs. Southern University (8-4), SWAC Championship, Jackson, Mich., 2 p.m.
Texas (11-1) vs. Georgia (10-2), SEC Championship, Atlanta, 4 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) vs. Marshall (9-3), Sun Belt Championship, Lafayette, Louisiana, 7:30 p.m.
Oregon (12-0) vs. Penn Street (11-1), Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis, 8 p.m.
SMU (11-1) vs. Clemson (9-3), ACC Championship, Charlotte, N.C., 8 p.m.
CENTRAL STATE — The West Marshall boys basketball team won its season opener for the first time since 2017.
CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa women’s basketball player Kaiba Laube has been named an All-Missouri Valley Conference player.
MOBERLY, Mo. — The second half gave the Marshalltown Community College men’s basketball team another tough time.
