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Ten conference championship games will be staged his weekend, beginning with a pair of Friday games featuring the PAC-12 and CUSA.
There are also two added regular season games this week, both of which serve as makeup games. Akron heads to Buffalo on Friday as the Bulls get one last chance to become bowl eligible, and New Mexico State will host Valparaiso on Saturday.
Buffalo is looking to go bowling for the first time under Maurice Linguist after making three straight appearances (2018-2020) under Lance Leipold to double the school's all-time bowl count. The Bulls are 11.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook. The Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com have Buffalo under that spread at 7.67, but the computer's trend line more than doubles that edge to 15.90. The Bulls have lost 3 straight games.
81 teams are eligible for 82 bowl slots after Rice learned it's eligible due to its Academic Progress Rate (APR), and New Mexico State was granted a waiver on Thursday to be bowl eligible at 5-6 and will go bowling for the first time since 2017 when Doug Martin led the school to its first bowl game in 57 years. The Aggies are a 19.13-point computer favorite to win and improve to 6-6, but they still needed the waiver because two of those wins would have come against FCS schools.
So, the remaining slot will go to Buffalo if the Bulls defeat Akron. If the Bulls lose, UNLV gets in based on its APR.
The weekend conference championship games will have everything to say about who deserves to be in the Final Four. Going in to those contests, it's up to Georgia, Michigan, TCU and USC to protect their current top 4 rankings by exiting with victories, and that's the favored exact order of finish.
The general feeling is that the Bulldogs and Wolverines are in whether they win or lose. TCU may enjoy the same advantage. All three of those schools are undefeated.
USC is the program that could least afford a loss as the Trojans enter the PAC-12 Championship game against Utah with an 11-1 record. The lone loss came against those very same Utes.
SEE: Schedule, Picks and Scores
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Clemson (-7.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Clemson (-10)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Clemson (-9.69)
The Tigers (Atlantic) and Tar Heels (Coastal) both lost over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. North Carolina dropped a second straight and fell to 9-3 over-all with its 30-27 loss at home to NC State in double-overtime. Clemson fell to 10-2 with the 31-30 loss at home to South Carolina as home winning streak stopped at 40, and its winning streak over the Gamecocks was halted at 7.
When it's over, the ACC will officially say farewell to the two-division system. The PAC-12, American Conference, and CUSA have already switched to staging a title game between the top two teams in the entire conference. The Mountain West, like the ACC, will implement that type of format next year while the B1G, SEC, MAC and Sun Belt will continue to use divisions.
Clemson and UNC haven't met since 2019 when the Tigers won 1-20 in the regular season. They also met in the 2015 ACC Championship game with the Tigers scoring a 45-37 win.
Bowl eligible members (9):
ATLANTIC: Clemson (10-2, 8-0), Florida State (9-3, 5-3), Louisville (7-5, 4-4), NC State (8-4, 4-4), Syracuse (7-5, 4-4), Wake Forest (7-5, 3-5).
COASTAL: UNC (9-3, 6-2), Pittsburgh (8-4, 5-3), Duke (8-4, 5-3).
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Tulane (-3.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Tulane (-1.61)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Tulane (-12.52)
Tulane was a 27-24 upset winner at Cincinnati to clinch hosting duties.Saturday at 4 ET on ABC. UCF later averted the upset at USF by scoring a late TD for a 46-39 win. Both of Tulane's losses this season came at home. The first was startling upset to Southern Miss. The second was a 38-31 setback to UCF on November 12.
Tulane's win over the Bearcats ended an 0-for-61 mark against AP-ranked teams in the poll era that began in 1936. It also ended Cincinnati's 32-game home winning streak, and Tulane's 4-game losing streak in the series. What's more, it lifted the Green Wave to their first double-digit win season since 1998 (12-0) and just the fourth all-time (11-1 in 1931 and 10-1 in 1934). Most importantly, in the age of the college football playoff, it puts the Green Wave in the driver's seat for the automatic Group of Five bid to a New Year's Six bowl game. It's last appearance in a 'major' bowl game came in the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 1939 season.
Going into this week's games, Tulane and UCF are the only Group of Five teams in the playoff committee's top 25 with the Green Wave at No. 18 and the Knights at No. 22.
Bowl eligible members (7): Tulane (10-2, 7-1), Cincinnati (9-3, 6-2), UCF (9-3, 6-2), SMU (7-5, 5-3), Houston (7-5, 5-3), East Carolina (7-5, 4-4), Memphis (6-6, 3-5).
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Michigan (-16.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Michigan (-17.78)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Michigan (-22.89)
Once again, the season-ending rivalry game between Ohio State and Michigan was a de facto East division championship game and, for the first time since 1999-2000, the Wolverines have won back-to-back games against the Buckeyes. Michigan trailed 20-17 at the half, but outscored Ohio State 28-3 after intermission for the 45-23 win.
Purdue clinched the west division with a 30-16 victory at Indiana after Iowa was upset 24-17 at home by Nebraska on Friday. Illinois stormed to a 44-3 win at Northwestern but needed a Purdue loss to go with it.
Purdue QB Aidan O'Connell, who left after the win over Indiana to be with his family in the wake of his older brother's death, is still expected to play.
Michigan will be without RB Bake Corum (1,463 yards, 18 TD's) after it was revealed on Thursday that he needs knee surgery and is done for the season. Corum only had 2 carries v.s Ohio State, but Donovan Edwards ran for 217 and 2 TD's (75, 85) in the 45-23 Michigan win
Bowl eligible members (9):
EAST: Michigan (12-0, 9-0), Ohio State (11-1, 8-1), Penn State (10-2, 7-2), Maryland (7-5, 4-5).
WEST: Purdue (8-4, 6-3), Illinois (8-4, 5-4), Iowa (7-5, 5-4), Minnesota (8-4, 5-4), Wisconsin (6-6, 4-5)
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: TCU (-2.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Kansas State (-0.19)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: TCU (-3.57)
The College GameDay crew is headed to Arlington for this one.
Kansas State got in with a 47-27 home win over Kansas. Texas needed a Kansas State loss after the Longhorns won 38-27 at home over Baylor.
TCU won the regular season matchup with Kansas State 38-28 at home on October 22 by scoring the last 28 points of the game.
Bowl eligible (8): TCU (12-0, 9-0), Kansas State (9-3, 7-2), Texas (8-4, 6-3), Texas Tech (7-5, 5-4), Oklahoma State (7-5, 4-5), Baylor (6-6, 4-5), Oklahoma (6-6, 3-6), Kansas (6-6, 3-6).
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: UTSA (-8.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: UTSA (-12.89)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: UTSA (-10.83)
Sadly, almost no one will see this game as it's exclusively being broadcast on CBSSN which is the cable sports network of CBS television and is scarcely available in a basic cable package. Seriously, CBSSN reaches fewer viewers than the likes of MTV2, Baby First TV and Destination America.
UTSA secured hosting duties with a win 41-7 romp at Rice on November 19. A week later, North Texas beat Rice 21-17 at home to secure the other slot. The Owls came up a game short of bowl eligibility, or so they thought until they learned their 5-7 record and APR score got them in the door.
UTSA won the regular season meeting 31-27 at home on October 22.
UTSA is 19-1 in its last 20 games against CUSA opponents, including last year's championship game win at home over Western Kentucky. The lone loss in that time frame came in last year's season finale at North Texas when the Mean Green scored a 45-23 upset.
Bowl eligible (6): UTSA (10-2, 8-0), North Texas (7-5, 6-2), Western Kentucky (8-5, 6-2), MTSU (7-5, 4-4), UAB (6-6, 4-4), Rice (5-7, but APR eligible)
Liberty went down in flames at the end of the year. After starting the season 8-1, Liberty lost its last 3 games, including a 49-14 smackdown at home by New Mexico State in the season finale. The last loss can likely be attributed to the team knowing that head coach Hugh Freeze was going to leave for the Auburn job, a move that was confirmed two days later.
The win left New Mexico State a game shy of bowl eligibility, or so the school thought. But the Aggies were granted a waiver buy the NCAA on Thursday to make them bowl eligible at 5-6, ahead of other teams that are 5-7 that could be in-line based on their Academic Progress Rate. Nonetheless, the Aggies have lined up a game against FCS member Valparaiso for this Saturday with a chance to get to 6-6.
Bowl eligible (5): Notre Dame (8-4), Liberty (8-4), BYU (7-5), UConn (6-6), New Mexico State (5-6, but granted an NCAA waiver)
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Toledo (-1.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Toledo (-1.78)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Ohio (-8.50)
Toledo is in the championship game for the first time since 2017 when the Rockets beat Akron in the championship game at Detroit. Toledo is limping in to that game after losing 20-14 at Western Michigan on Black Friday for its second straight loss and winds up in a tie with Eastern Michigan for the MAC West crown after the Eagles doubled-up Central Michigan 38-19 at home on Friday. Toledo won the regular season match against EMU on October 29 at Ypsilanti.
Ohio defeated Bowling Green 38-14 on Tuesday night in a de facto MAC East Championship game.
Toledo and Ohio did not meet in the regular season.
Buffalo was denied bowl eligibility on Saturday when Kent State upset the Bulls 30-27 in OT. However, the Akron at Buffalo game that was snowed-out on November 19 has been rescheduled for Friday, December 2, so the Bulls will get one last crack at making the bowl season.
Bowl eligible (5):
EAST: Ohio (9-3, 7-1), Bowling Green (6-6, 5-3), Miami (6-6, 4-4).
WEST: Toledo (7-5, 5-3), Eastern Michigan (8-4, 5-3).
Still bowl possible (1):
EAST: Buffalo (5-6, 4-3).
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Boise State (-3.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Boise State (-8.39)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Boise State (-6.35)
The championship clash will be a rematch of the regular season game that Boise State won 40-20 on the smurf turf on October 8 for Fresno State's only conference loss.
Both division winners hosted their regular season finale games on Friday. The Broncos beat Utah State 42-23 to wrap up a third undefeated conference season in the last four years. The Bulldogs defeated Wyoming 30-0 for their 7th straight win after a 1-4 start.
Bowl eligible (7):
MOUNTAIN: Boise State (9-3, 8-0), Wyoming (7-5, 5-3), Utah State (6-6, 5-3), Air Force (9-3, 5-3)
WEST: Fresno State (8-4, 7-1), San Diego State (7-5, 5-3), San Jose State (7-4, 5-3).
Still Bowl Possible (1): UNLV (5-7, 3-5, based on APR). Needs Buffalo to lose to Akron.
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: USC (-2.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Utah (-10.48)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: USC (-4.24)
USC's conference championship game opponent could've been either Oregon, Washington or Utah. Utah handed USC its only loss, 43-42 in Salt Lake City on October 15. The Trojans did not play either Oregon or Washington.
The Trojans got the rematch with Utah in Las Vegas after all the dominoes fell in favor of the Utes over the holiday weekend. Utah was aided by UCLA's 35-28 win at Cal on Friday, then took care of its own business by clobbering Colorado 63-21 at Boulder on Saturday afternoon. After that, Oregon fell by the wayside with its 38-34 fall-from-ahead loss at Oregon State. And late Saturday night, Washington was a 51-33 victor at Washington State to help the Utes punch their ticket.
Washington was eliminated when Colorado failed to upset Utah.
USC and Utah have split their last 10 meetings.
Bowl eligible (7): USC (11-1, 8-1), Utah (9-3, 7-2), Washington (10-2, 7-2), Oregon (9-3, 7-2), UCLA (9-3, 6-3), Oregon State (9-3, 6-3), Washington State (7-5, 4-5).
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Georgia (-18.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Georgia (-15.83)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Georgia (-9.86)
Even after its 38-23 upset loss at Texas A&M, LSU is one of the more surprising success stories of the 2022 season. The Tigers are 9-3 and could possibly be 10-2 were it not for a blocked PAT at the end of regulation in the opener against FSU. Georgia is what was expected of Georgia.
LSU has won 4 of the last 5 meetings, including the 2019 and 2011 SEC Championship games.
These schools also met in the 2005 and 2003 title games with Georgia's only win in the '05 contest.
Bowl eligible (11):
EASTERN: Georgia (12-0, 8-0), Tennessee (10-2, 6-2), South Carolina (8-4, 4 4), Kentucky (7-5, 3-5), Florida (6-6, 3-5), Missouri (6-6, 3-5).
WESTERN: LSU (9-3, 6-2), Alabama (10-2, 6-2), Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4), Ole Miss (8-4, 4-4), Arkansas (6-6, 3-5).
FAN DUEL ODDS as of Thursday: Troy (-8.5)
COMPUTER ODDS: Troy (-11.55)
COMPUTER TREND LINE: Troy (-17.50)
Troy and South Alabama entered the week in a tie on the other side with Troy owning the head-to-head tie-breaker. As it turns out, both teams were victorious as the Trojans won 48-19 at Arkansas State and the Jaguars beat ODU 27-20 in Mobile.
Troy goes in to the championship contest on a 9-game winning streak.
Coastal Carolina was 9-1 after beating Appalachian State 35-28, but that game also saw Grayson McCall exit with a foot injury and a subsequent timeline of 3-6 weeks for recovery. The next week, Coastal survived a close call with Southern Miss before the game at UVa was cancelled for well-known reasons. Coastal closed out the season by getting thrashed 47-7 at James Madison which gave the Dukes the east division title, but JMU isn't eligible for the conference championship or a bowl game per NCAA rules in their first year of transition from FCS to FBS. McCall's status for Saturday was undisclosed by CCU as of Thursday.
The Trojans and Chanticleers did not meet in the regular season.
Bowl eligible (7):
EAST: Coastal (9-2, 6-2), Marshall (8-4, 5-3), Georgia Southern (6-6, 2-5).
WEST: Troy (10-2, 7-1), South Alabama (10-2, 7-1), Southern Miss (6-6, 4-4), Louisiana (6-6, 4-4).
Ineligible (Transition season): JMU (8-3, 6-2)
Ineligible (2 wins vs. FCS): Appalachian State (6-6, 3-5)
Another FCS vs. FBS matchup was added when New Mexico State reached a deal with Valparaiso to play this Saturday. The Aggies were in need of make-up game after an earlier contest with San Jose State was canceled.
The FBS is 111-8 (.933) vs. the FCS this year, and is now 1,685-148 (.919) since we began tracking this in 2003.
116 of the 131 FBS schools have played at least one such game while Appalachian State, Army, and Marshall each played two.
Here are the FCS wins in 2022:
September 2: William & Mary 41, Charlotte 24
September 3: Delaware14, Navy 7
September 10: Weber State 35, Utah State 7
September 10: Incarnate Word 55, Nevada 41
September 10: Holy Cross 37, Buffalo 31
September 10: Eastern Kentucky 59, Bowling Green 57 (7 OT's)
September 17: Southern Illinois 31, Northwestern 24
September 24: Sacramento State 41, Colorado State 10
GEORGIA - Won 14 straight over-all. Won 11 straight true road games.
Last: Won 37-14 at home over Georgia Tech on Saturday, November 26.
Next: SEC Championship game vs. LSU in Atlanta on Saturday, December 3.
ALABAMA - Won 20 straight home games.
Last: Won 49-27 at home over Auburn on Saturday, November 26.
Next: Awaits playoff or bowl fate.
MICHIGAN - Won 14 straight conference games.
Last: Won 45-23 at Ohio State on Saturday, November 26.
Next: Big Ten Championship game vs. Purdue in Indianapolis on Saturday, December 3.
NORTHWESTERN - Lost 11 straight over-all, and 8 straight at home.
Last: Lost 41-3 at home to Illinois on Saturday, November 26.
Next: Season complete.
AKRON - Ended losing streaks of 12 straight conference games and 9 straight over-all with a 44-12 rout at Northern Illinois.
Last: Won 44-12 at Northern Illinois on Saturday, November 26.
Next: Visits Buffalo on Friday, December 2. (Make-up of Saturday, November 19 game that was cancelled due to heavy snow).
USF - Lost 13 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 46-39 at home to UCF on Saturday, November 26.
Next: Season complete.
MASSACHUSETTS - Lost 15 straight to FBS schools, and 24 straight road games.
Last: Lost 44-7 at home to Army on Saturday, November 26.
Next: Season complete.