The College Football Playoff rankings come out on Sunday, but first conference championships will be settled on Saturday. While there isn’t nearly as much football this weekend, there still are quite a bit of good games that will be on when Ohio State isn’t playing in the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 conference title game since 2009.
Here are the top games to watch this week:
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 9 Alabama (4 p.m., ABC): The SEC championship is always going to be one of the top games to watch this time of year, as is the Big Ten title game. In the last 11 years, the winner of the SEC has been either Alabama or Georgia 10 times, with the only interruption being the 2019 LSU team led by quarterback Joe Burrow.
It’s more than likely that this game won’t have a major impact on the playoff chances of either team participating in it. It’s hard to imagine that the CFP committee would keep the SEC runner up out of the playoffs, even if that ends up being a three-loss Alabama team.
But this will have an impact on the seeding. If the Crimson Tide win, will they be vaulted into a top-four spot despite being a two-loss team? Georgia could be the No. 2 team with a win.
The Bulldogs have had trouble beating Alabama in recent years, and that stretch has continued, even with the departure of legendary head coach Nick Saban and the arrival of Kalen DeBoer.
Either way, it’s going to be a matchup between two college football powerhouses that will be a good game to get any Buckeye fans warmed up for the Big Ten Championship Game at 8 p.m.
No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 11 BYU (Noon, ABC): Before Alabama and Georgia match up, the Big 12 championship is first on the schedule. Where BYU is ranked now, it likely has to win this game if it wants to make the College Football Playoff, despite finishing the regular season with an 11-1 record and multiple wins over ranked programs.
But that one loss is to Texas Tech, and it was a big one. On Nov. 8, these two teams faced off and the Red Raiders won by a 29-7 score, with the Cougars not getting on the board until the fourth quarter.
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier was 23-of-38 passing in the game for 188 yards, one touchdown and an interception, and the Cougars struggled mightily to get their run game going. Their leading rusher, LJ Martin, had just 35 yards on 10 carries in the game, with the next leading rusher being Bachmeier with just 12 yards.
Texas Tech didn’t struggle to get going on offense, leading 19-0 by the end of the first half. Quarterback Behren Morton finished the game completing 17 of 32 passes for 219 yards and one score, while running back Cameron Dickey had 23 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Texas Tech seems locked into the playoff either way, so a BYU win could really shake up the lower end of the rankings, possibly keeping Notre Dame out of the playoff. But a win for the Red Raiders seems likely to keep BYU out of the bracket.
No. 17 Virginia vs. Duke (8 p.m., ABC): Sure, this is happening at the same time as the Big Ten championship, and Ohio State fans should stay locked in on that, but this is at the very least a game to score watch while the Buckeyes and Hoosiers are playing.
It won’t impact the seeding for the Big Ten teams in any way, but the winner of this game could have a big effect on the lower-seeded teams that are currently projected to make the bracket.
As of now, Duke is not in the CFP top 25, and if the Blue Devils are able to beat Virginia in the ACC championship, both James Madison and Tulane — which each won its title game on Friday — would likely still be the higher ranked conference champions.
That scenario has the chance to keep the ACC out of the CFP, with Miami (Fla.) getting an at-large bid being the conference’s only shot at making it in. And with the Fighting Irish ranked above the Hurricanes currently, the committee would have to have the two idle teams flip their spots on Sunday.
But one way for the ACC to avoid that is for the Cavaliers to win this game. The two teams matched up less than a month ago on Nov. 15 and Virginia took home a 34-17 win, with quarterback Chandler Morris throwing for 316 yards and two touchdowns and running back J’Mari Taylor running for 133 yards and two scores.
Other Games To Watch:
Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan (Noon, ESPN)
Photo: Vasha Hunt/AP
