Well, the regular season of college football has come to a close, and we get this one final day of conference championships before we enter into playoff and bowl overload. It’ll be a great day of football with
some high-stakes implications. Below is the TV schedule for the day, with all times in Central Time.
The morning is starting with the Big 12 championship between Texas Tech and BYU. The Red Raiders came seemingly from nowhere this year to sport arguably the country’s best defense. Interestingly, while Tech lost to Arizona State, they also beat BYU already. So while BYU is punished a bit for having no good wins in their 11-1 record, Texas Tech is pretty much totally hanging their hat on beating said BYU. It’s all quite circular, and it makes it interesting that Cougars are ranked 5 spots lower. A TTU win pretty much guarantees that BYU is out of the playoffs in favor some G5 teams. However, if BYU wins, they get an autobid, and then the committee will have to decide if they want TTU to fall out of the playoffs instead of Notre Dame, Alabama, or Oklahoma, and that won’t happen.
Once that game is over, we’ll roll right into the SEC Championship showdown with a rematch between Alabama and Georgia. The Dogs are a lock to make the playoffs, but with their history, that program would probably rather get the win over Alabama than they would another National Championship, so they’ll be plenty motivated. On the other hand, Alabama needs the win to get the assured playoff spot. The Tide is most likely in regardless, but there’s a chance they could get bumped out for Notre Dame if BYU wins the game before.
Then for the night cap, we get the Big 10 showdown between Indiana and Ohio State running concurrently with the ACC. The Hoosiers and Buckeyes are the #1 and #2 teams in the country, so neither one is missing the playoffs and they could absolutely sit all their starters if they wanted. Still, you KNOW Indiana wants a championship for their program with every fiber of their being.
And then there’s the ACC. Somehow, 10-2 Virginia is playing a 7-5 Duke, while Miami, the only top 12 team in the conference, is at home. If Duke wins, then both Tulane and James Madison would make it into the playoffs as more highly ranked conference champions for the autobids, and the ACC would be left out entirely. If Virginia wins, then the Cavs get to slip into the back end of the playoffs. It’s a real pickle, really.
Sit back, and enjoy the last full day of college football for this year, and let this serve as the open thread until Alabama and Georgia kick off this afternoon. Roll Tide!
