The discussion around which teams will make the 12-team College Football Playoff has dominated this sport this year, and we’re less than a week away from knowing the answer. The last piece of the puzzle is the conference title games, which will take place this weekend.
All nine conferences have their championship games this weekend, with three on Friday and six on Saturday. It appears that three of them (Big 12, ACC and Mountain West) will see its winner get into the CFP and its loser miss out, but nothing is that clear cut. SMU would have a chance to lose the ACC title game to Clemson and still get in, but the Tigers face a must-win situation. In the Mountain West, UNLV could beat Boise State and still not make the field if Army wins the AAC, but the Rebels probably are in with a win, just like the Broncos.
In the SEC and the Big Ten, it’s all about seeding. Oregon is undefeated and can grab the top seed and the Big Ten title in its first year in the conference. Two-loss Georgia is hoping for a second win against Texas, which would prevent the Longhorns from winning the SEC in their first season in the league.
There’s plenty at stake, even beyond conference crowns and a trophy. On top of all that, the betting spreads are close for all nine games. As of Monday morning, the biggest spread of any of the nine games is in the Sun Belt, where Louisiana is a 5.5-point favorite against Marshall. That’s right, all nine conference title games feature spreads less than a touchdown. Four (Big 12, MAC, SEC and ACC) have spreads less than a field goal. That’s a heck of a slate for the final college football Saturday of the season.
Here are the odds and kickoff time for all nine conference championship games this weekend.
Odds update live and are from BetMGM. Kickoff times are Eastern. Rankings are from the AP Top 25.
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Friday, Dec. 6
Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State — 7 p.m. ET on CBSSN
No. 19 UNLV at No. 10 Boise State — 8 p.m. ET on FOX
Tulane at No. 24 Army — 8 p.m. ET on ABC
Saturday, Dec. 7
No. 16 Iowa State vs. No. 12 Arizona State — Noon ET on ABC
At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
Ohio vs. Miami (Ohio) — Noon ET on ESPN
At Ford Field in Detroit
No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 2 Texas — 4 p.m. ET on ABC
At Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
Marshall at Louisiana — 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 1 Oregon — 8 p.m. ET on CBS
At Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
No. 18 Clemson vs. No. 8 SMU — 8 p.m. ET on ABC
At Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte
(Photo of Quinn Ewers: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
