Champ Week is Here!
Breaking down all 9 FBS conference championship games and their impact on the College Football Playoff
Championship Week is upon us! With the latest CFP rankings now out, how will these games affect the final CFP rankings come Sunday. Interesting to note that all 4 games on Friday are played on campus of the higher seeded team while the 5 games on Saturday all played at neutral sites in NFL stadiums. With so much on the line, let’s run down all 9 conference championship games this weekend.
Friday
Conference USA
Kennesaw State (9-3, 7-1) at Jacksonville State (8-4, 7-1)
4pm PT on CBS Sports Net
While the winner of this game does not really have a shot at the College Football Playoff, this does match up the 2 teams that have been the head of the class in Conference USA all season long. The home team has won each of the last 4 CUSA titles including last year’s Jacksonville State team that was coached by Rich Rodriguez and blew out Western Kentucky 52-12 This is just the 3rd season for Jax State in Conference USA since moving up from the FCS level and just the 2nd season for Kennesaw State.
This is a rematch from November 15th, also in Jacksonville, where the Gamecocks won at home 35-26. Jax State got 252 yards on the ground thanks to the combo of RB Cam Cook (132 yds, 1 TD) and QB Caden Creel (127 yds, 2 TD). The Owls lost despite putting up 579 total yards (217 rush, 362 pass) and 32 first downs but gave up 15 points off 4 interceptions.
The Gamecocks won 9 games each of their previous 2 seasons since making the jump to FBS and need a win here and their bowl game to reach double-digit wins for the first time since 2020 when they went 10-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Cam Cook leads the conference with 1,581 rush yards while Caden Creel is 4th at 973 with TCU transfer Cook topping 100 rush yards in 7 straight games to tie a program record and 11 out of 12 while QB Creel has also topped 100 yards on the ground in the last 4. Jacksonville State has won 11 straight at home, tied for the 3rd longest active streak in FBS.
The Owls have made a giant turnaround from last season when they went 2-10 in their first season at the FBS level. KSU started the season with a pair of losses to Power 4 schools on the road in Wake Forest and Indiana but have won 9 of 10 since. Kennesaw State has won 5 one-score games this season, tied for the most in FBS. WR Gabriel Benyard had a monster month of November with 6 of his 9 receiving TD on the season and a pair of 100+ yard receiving games. This is their best season since going 11-2 in 2021 and winning the conference title in their final season in the Big South.
Sun Belt
Troy (8-4, 6-2) at #25 James Madison (11-1, 8-0)
4pm PT on ESPN
The only FBS conference that still has divisions as East Division champion James Madison hosts West Division Champion Troy. This is James Madison’s 4th year in the Sun Belt but only 2nd year eligible for the champ game due to their move up from FCS. The Dukes did finish 1st in their division in both 2022 & 2023 under then head coach Curt Cignetti. Since the conference started playing a championship game in 2018, Troy has appeared twice with wins in both 2022 & 2023. The home team is 5-1 in the championship game with the only win coming last year with Marshall’s victory at Louisiana.
These 2 schools did not face each other this year with the only matchup since JMU joined the conference coming in 2023. Former Arizona QB Jordan McCloud threw a TD to current Indiana WR Elijah Sarratt and the Dukes held off the Trojans for a 16-14 victory in the conference season opener for both teams.
James Madison has 10 conference championships in school history but is seeking its first at the FBS level which could also result in a trip to the College Football Playoff. JMU is just the 3rd team to go 8-0 in Sun Belt play in the league’s championship game era and 7th to do it all-time. Bob Chesney is another head coach that will be moving on and will be the next UCLA head coach but will coach on Friday and any CFP games should the Dukes qualify. James Madison is ranked 10th in both scoring offense (37.8 PPG) and scoring defense (16.0), 1 of 4 schools to be top 10 in both categories (Indiana, Texas Tech, Oregon). RB Wayne Knight has rushed for 1,051 yards this season and is 4th in FBS in all purpose YPG (139.8). JMU has won 10 straight games, tied with Notre Dame for the 3rd longest streak in FBS.
Troy was victorious at Southern Miss in the final week in a winner-take-all for the West Division. Will “Goose” Crowder hit former Georgia WR Rara Thomas for a 75-yard TD with 3:16 left to put the game away in a 28-18 victory, the Trojans first win over a winning team this season. The West Virginia transfer Crowder has 7 pass TD in the last 2 weeks in his return as starting QB. Troy had 1 pass TD the previous 4 games combined. The Trojans are 5-0 this season when rushing for 100+ yards. The program is 3-31 all-time against AP Top 25 (all since 2001) with the last win coming in the 2022 Cure Bowl over UTSA.
The American
#24 North Texas (11-1, 7-1) at #20 Tulane (10-2, 7-1)
5pm PT on ABC
By the look of things, this basically qualifies as a play-in game for the College Football Playoff. And of course, both head coaches just took new jobs this past week. North Texas’ Eric Morris is the new head man at Oklahoma State. Tulane’s Jon Sumrall is riding the wave to Florida. Both, however, will be on the sidelines on Friday. These schools did not meet this year but the Green Wave is 3-0 all-time against the Mean Green, all by 1 score, including victories in both 2023 & 2024.
This is the league record 4th straight year that Tulane will make the title game and 3rd time in the last 4 years they will host it. The Green Wave won the title in 2022 but lost the last 2 years, including last year’s game at West Point. This is the Mean Green’s 1st appearance in the championship game since joining the conference in 2023.
North Texas comes into this game on a 6-game win streak with their only loss of the season coming to South Florida in mid-October. Their 11 wins this season are already a program record and look to win their first conference title since 2004 when they claimed the Sun Belt crown. Eric Morris’ team has one of the top offenses in the country, ranking 1st in scoring (46.8 PPG) and total offense (511.8 YPG) while having the 2nd best passing offense (325.7 YPG). Redshirt freshman Drew Mestemaker leads the nation with nearly 4,000 pass yards (3,835) with 29 TD to just 4 INT while true freshman RB Caleb Hawkins is the only freshman with more than 1,000 yards this season (1,216) while leading the nation in both rush TD (23) and total TD (26). North Texas has lost 43 of 45 all-time against AP Top 25 opponents with the wins coming over #21 UTSA (2021) and #20 San Diego State (1974)
Tulane has won 4 straight since their one surprising conference loss at UTSA the night before Halloween. The Green Wave were 6-0 at home this year for the first time in Yulman Stadium’s history (opened in 2014) and first time in New Orleans since 1998. Sumrall’s team faced 3 Power 4 opponents this season, with wins over Northwestern and Duke but a 45-10 loss at Ole Miss. BYU transfer QB Jake Retzlaff has 14 pass TD and 14 rush TD, the school’s single season record for rush TD by a QB, and is 1 of 4 FBS QB this season to have at least 14 in both categories. The Green Wave’s win at then #22 Memphis a month ago snapped the team’s 6-game losing streak to ranked opponents but they have not beaten a ranked team at home since the 2022 American Champ game victory over UCF.
Mountain West
UNLV (10-2, 6-2) at Boise State (8-4, 6-2)
5pm PT on FOX
A truly symbolic matchup in the final Mountain West Championship Game as the conference is currently constructed. UNLV is the de facto leader of the remaining conference while Boise State is the most recognized program of the schools moving to the Pac-12 next season. This is actually a rematch of the last 2 years of this championship with Boise winning both games including Ashton Jeanty rushing for 209 yards in a 21-7 victory. This will actually be the Broncos 9th appearance in the champ game in its 13 years of existence, with as many wins (5) as any other school has appearances (Fresno State, 5). As mentioned, this is UNLV’s 3rd straight year in the title game and 3rd time overall.
Boise State has won 12 of the 15 all-time meetings between these schools and 10 in a row. The Rebels have never won in Boise and their last win in the series came in 1976. These schools matched up at Albertsons Stadium back on October 18th, with the Broncos pulling out a 56-31 victory behind 201 rush yards from Dylan Riley and 4 pass touchdowns from Maddux Madsen. Madsen, who’s missed the last 3+ games due to injury, will start on Friday night.
Year 1 under Dan Mullen has been a huge success for UNLV, earning double-digit wins for the 4th time in school history and in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever. The Rebels are seeking their first league championship since they won the Big West in 1994. UNLV is 15-4 in true road games since the start of the 2023 season, the most road wins in FBS in that span, after going 8-25 on the road the previous 6 seasons combined. The Rebels ride a 4-game win streak where they allowed 15.8 PPG as they racked up 16 sacks and allowed only 16 of 53 3rd down attempts (30.2%) to be converted. Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea is 1 of 4 FBS QBs this season to top 3,000 yards passing (3,050) and 500 yards rushing (555). UNLV defeated every non-conference opponent on their schedule for the 1st time since joining a league in 1982.
After losing both the game that Madsen was injured and the 1st full game without him, Boise State has bounced back with a pair of wins over fellow soon to be Pac-12’ers in Colorado State and Utah State. The Broncos topped 500 total yards in each of those last 2 games, the first time they had done that since the win over UNLV in October. Dylan Riley had 120 yards and a touchdown at Utah State, his 5th 100+ yard game of the season and first since.. You guessed it, the UNLV game in October. Spencer Danielson is 13-1 at home as head coach including 8-1 against Mountain West schools with the lone loss coming to Fresno State last month. The Broncos have 28 straight winning seasons, the longest active streak and tied for the 3rd longest in FBS history.
Saturday
Big 12
#11 BYU (11-1, 8-1) vs. #4 Texas Tech (11-1, 8-1)
AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
9am PT on ABC
One of the biggest games of the weekend and not just in the context of the Big 12. Texas Tech appears to be fairly solid in its place in the CFP win or lose in this game with potentially just a 1st round bye on the line. For BYU however, it appears that their only path in is with a victory and the automatic bid as one of the 5 highest ranked conference champions. And there are also significant implications for teams like Notre Dame, Miami and even Alabama depending on the results of this game. The #1 seed has won the last 2 Big 12 title games and 5 of 8 since bringing the championship game back in 2017. This is the 1st appearance for either school in the Big 12 Championship Game.
These 2 teams met earlier this season with the Red Raiders handing the Cougars their only loss so far this season, 29-7. Texas Tech was up 26-0 in the 4th quarter before allowing BYU’s lone score with 7:35 remaining. It was the only time all season that Kalani Sitake’s team was held under 24 points and their 255 total yards also by far their season low (332 vs. Stanford). Defensively it was also the most points they gave up all year and the only game this season they did not force a turnover.
Texas Tech has one of the strongest resumes in the country, not just with their 11 wins that were all by at least 22 points to become the 6th team in the last 120 years to win 11+ games by 20+ points in the regular season. And their one loss came at Arizona State by 4 points without injured starting QB Behren Morton. LB Jacob Rodriguez, a dark horse Heisman candidate, is the only FBS player since 2005 to have 5 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 4 INT in the same season - meanwhile ALSO has 2 rush TD on his only 2 attempts this season. Joey McGuire’s team is 2-0 against ranked teams this season with the earlier win over BYU and a win at Utah. The Red Raiders are seeking their 1st outright conference title since winning the Border Conference in 1955.
BYU has won 3 straight games by an average of 21 points since the Texas Tech loss. The Cougars have 6 wins against teams with winning records, tied for 2nd most with Oklahoma, and are 2-1 against the current CFP Top 25. BYU is looking for its 1st conference championship since winning the Mountain West in 2007. LJ Martin has 1,2229 rush yards this season, the most by a BYU player since Tyler Allgeier put up a school record 1,606 in 2021. True freshman QB Bear Bachmeier has 7 games this season with both a pass TD and rush TD. The Cougars have dropped 9 of their last 10 against Top 5 teams since 1991 with the lone win coming in the 2009 season opener over #3 Oklahoma at Cowboys Stadium - the 1st college football game ever played in the new stadium.
MAC
Miami (7-5, 6-2) vs. Western Michigan (8-4, 7-1)
Ford Field - Detroit, MI
9am PT on ESPN
For the first time in a decade, a MAC team will be playing in the conference title game 3 straight years. Miami (Ohio) won the title in 2023 but lost to Ohio last year 38-3. This will be the RedHawks 8th appearance in the title game, tied with Toledo for 2nd most, 1 behind Northern Illinois. Western Michigan is making their 4th appearance and first since winning it in 2016.
This is a rematch from an October 25th meeting in Oxford where the RedHawks came away with a 26-17 victory. Trailing 17-9 entering the 4th quarter, former Baylor QB Dequan Finn threw for a TD and ran for another in the final frame of a Miami comeback victory.
Western Michigan is the #1 seed in this game with that loss to Miami being their only conference loss on the season. The Broncos have won 8 of 9 since starting the season 0-3 but those losses were to Michigan State, North Texas and Illinois. WMU has progressed in each of their 3 seasons under Lance Taylor, a former assistant at Stanford and Notre Dame, who went 4-8 in 2023 and 6-7 last season. Indiana transfer QB Broc Lowry has been a true dual threat this season as he leads the team with 875 rush yds and 14 rush TD, tied for 5th most in FBS among quarterbacks.
Miami also started off the season 0-3 with losses at Wisconsin and Rutgers and led 24-10 at home against UNLV before being outscored 31-14 in the 4th quarter of a 41-38 defeat. The RedHawks have responded by winning 7 of their last 9. Finn, one of the heroes of the earlier win over WMU, left the program 3 weeks ago to focus on NFL prep. 3rd string QB Thomas Gotkowski has since led the team to blowout wins over Buffalo and Ball State including 3 pass TD in last week’s win over the Cardinals.
SEC
#3 Georgia (11-1, 7-1) vs. #9 Alabama (10-2, 7-1)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, GA
1pm PT on ABC
For the 4th time in the last 8 years, it will be the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs doing battle in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the SEC title. Bama has won all 4 SEC title game meetings including the last time these 2 teams faced off in 2023 when Alabama upset #1 Georgia 27-24, snapping UGA’s 29-game win streak, with Nick Saban getting over on his protege Kirby Smart one last time and take their spot in the CFP. This is Alabama’s league-leading 17th appearance in the SEC Championship with 11 wins while Georgia passes Florida for 2nd most with 14 appearances including 5 victories. The 5 straight appearances for the Bulldogs ties the conference record set by Florida in the first 5 ever SEC title games (1992-96).
These 2 rivals have already met once this season, with the Tide rolling to a 24-21 win in Athens back in late September. Ty Simpson threw for 276 yards and 2 scores, while adding another score on the ground. It snapped Georgia’s 33-game home win streak and is their only loss of the 2025 season so far.
The Bulldogs have won 8 straight since that loss to the Tide but actually trailed in 7 of their 8 SEC games this season. In fact, Kirby Smart’s team has only led by 7+ points in 46.4% of their snaps this season (24th best in FBS). The Bulldogs though are 3-1 against the current CFP Top 25 with wins over Ole Miss, Texas and Georgia Tech. 5 of their wins this year are against teams with current winning records. 10 of Gunner Stockton’s 20 pass TD this season have come in the last 5 games but so have 4 of his 5 interceptions. The Bulldogs have only forced 11 turnovers this season and have a -1 turnover margin on the season. Georgia has actually won 5 of their last 6 games against AP Top 10 teams with the lone loss coming to Notre Dame in last year’s CFP.
For a team ranked in the Top 10, it’s been a fairly wild ride for Alabama this season. Following their shocking 31-17 loss at Florida State (a team that finished the year 5-7) by winning 8 straight games. That streak included 4 straight games against teams that were ranked in the Top 16 at the time of the game (Georgia, Vandy, Missouri, Tennessee). But their final 4 SEC games included a home loss to Oklahoma, breaking a 17-game win streak in Tuscaloosa, and closer than expected wins over South Carolina, LSU and Auburn. Ty Simpson has thrown for 3,056 yards this season which is currently 8th most in the school’s single season history. Alabama is 18-1 in games played in Atlanta since 2007 with 17 straight wins. The Tide have won their last 2 games against Top 5 teams (both Georgia) and 8-2 against Top 5 opponents since 2020 (5 of those 8 wins against Georgia).
Big Ten
#2 Indiana (12-0, 9-0) vs. #1 Ohio State (12-0, 9-0)
Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN
5pm PT on FOX
For the first time ever, the Big Ten title game will feature #1 vs. #2. It’s also the first ever appearance for Indiana in the champ game after claiming a share of the regular season championship for the 1st time since 1967. Ohio State meanwhile is making their league-record 7th appearance but first since 2020. The Buckeyes are 5-1 in the Big Ten Championship Game with the only loss coming to Michigan State in 2013. Since the start of the 2019 season, #1 has faced #2 three times with the #1 ranked team winning all 3 with the last coming in the 2024 National Championship with Michigan beating Washington.
With both teams undefeated, obviously these teams have not faced each other this season and last met in Week 11 of last year when the Buckeyes handed the Hoosiers their first loss of the season 38-15. In fact, Ohio State has won the last 30 meetings since a 27-27 tie in Bloomington back in 1990 and the Hoosiers last win in this series came in 1988.
The defending national champion Buckeyes own the longest active win streak in the country at 16 games. Ryan Day’s team has been dominant in pursuit of back-to-back national titles with only 1 of their wins by less than 18 points. The defense has led the charge as just the 4th team since 1950 to allow less than 100 points in a 12-game regular season. Ohio State is 12-0 for the 6th time in program history, all since 2002, but have not finished unbeaten since the 2012 team that went 12-0 but was ineligible for the postseason in their 1st season under Urban Meyer. Julian Sayin leads the country with a 78.9 completion percentage which is ahead of the FBS single-season record set by Oregon’s Bo Nix in 2023 (77.4%). This is the 8th time that Ohio State has been involved in a #1 vs. #2 matchup and are 5-2 in those games.
The Hoosiers continue to hit unprecedented heights in Year 2 under Curt Cignetti. First ever Big Ten title game. First ever season with 12 wins. First unbeaten regular season since 1945 (9-0-1). Cignetti has won 23 games in his first 2 seasons, second most in Big Ten history by a coach in first 2 seasons behind Urban Meyer who won 24 in 2012-13 for Ohio State. Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Fernando Mendoza has a school-record 32 pass TD and had 3 games this season with 4+ pass TD and a 90% completion percentage. Mendoza is just the 2nd FBS player in at least the last 30 years to have multiple games with 4+ pass TD and 90% comp in the same game with Alabama’s Bryce Young doing it 2 times in his 2021 Heisman season. The Hoosiers are 2-0 this season against the current CFP Top 25 including a road win at current #5 Oregon. Indiana is 0-16 all-time against #1 ranked teams with 6 of the 7 since 1969 coming against Ohio State
ACC
Duke (7-5, 6-2) vs. #17 Virginia (10-2, 7-1)
Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, NC
5pm PT on ABC
The most fascinating game of the weekend is the final game as the ACC has the potential to be shut out of the College Football Playoff. While Miami does still have some chance as an at-large, Virginia would clearly make the field with a victory in this game. But should Duke win this game, chaos could prevail as the unranked Blue Devils might not be 1 of the 5 highest ranked conference champions. This is the 2nd appearance for each school in the title game Virginia losing to Clemson in 2019 and Duke losing to Florida State in 2013. This is the first time since 2021 that neither team in the championship game is ranked in the Top 10. With the ACC competing with the American for a CFP bid its interesting to note that the 2 QB’s in this game, Duke’s Darin Mensah and Virginia’s Chandler Morris, were the starting QBs last year at the 2 schools competing in the American title game this year - Tulane and North Texas.
These 2 did meet up just 3 weeks ago in Durham with Virginia coming away with a 34-17 victory. Morris, who left the previous week’s game after a hit to the head, threw for 316 yards and 2 scores in the Cavaliers victory. The Blue Devils were outgained 540-255 in that game, the -285 margin more than double their previous worst this season (-121 at Clemson).
Depending on your viewpoint on college football, Duke making the ACC title game is the worst thing ever or the greatest thing ever. Despite all the hysteria, 4 of the Blue Devils conference wins have come over teams with current winning records (NC State, Cal, Clemson, Wake Forest). In fact, Duke played 9 games against teams currently above .500 this season, tied for the 2nd most in FBS. But of the 5 teams tied at 6-2, they only played one of them, Georgia Tech, who beat them 27-18. Mensah has thrown for 3,450 pass yards, the 2nd most in a season in Duke history and owns the single-season pass TD record with 28. Manny Diaz’s team is 0-3 against ranked opponents this season and have lost 10 straight against Top 25 teams and 18 of their last 19.
Tony Elliott’s team has already 5 more wins than last season and have reached double digits in wins for just the 2nd time in school history (10-3 in 1989). Virginia only lost 1 conference game this season but both of their losses are to ACC schools. Their lone conference loss came almost a month ago with a 16-9 defeat to Wake Forest but also lost a nonconference game to NC State 35-31 in September. The Cavaliers played 3 overtime games this season, winning all 3 (Florida St, Louisville, North Carolina), 1 of 8 teams in college football history to win 3 overtime games in a season. J’Mari Taylor needs just 3 yards to become the school’s first 1,000 yard rusher since Jordan Ellis in 2018.
Great write-ups. I enjoy the way you compare and contrast the current teams as well as provide the historical perspective from previous years’ games.
Looking forward to some really good games this weekend.