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Conference championship games got off on the wrong foot for the playoff committee's top four teams as they saw No. 4 USC go down 47-24 at the hands of Utah in the PAC-12 title game on Friday night, and then watched Saturday begin with a 31-28 toppling of No. 3 TCU by Kansas State in overtime in the Big 12 championship match.
No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan stepped in to restore order as the Bulldogs beat LSU 50-30 for the SEC crown, and Michigan pulled away from Purdue in the second half for a 43-22 win in the Big Ten championship game.
Going in to those contests, Georgia, Michigan, TCU and USC were the top four with Ohio State 5th and Alabama 6th. USC was the program that could least afford a loss as the Trojans entered the PAC-12 Championship game at 11-1 while the Bulldogs, Wolverines and Horned Frogs were all 12-0.
Now, the question already facing the committee will be what to do with an 11-2 USC squad team that played for a conference title while the Buckeyes (11-1) and Tide (10-2) sat safely on the sideline.
Ten conference championship games were staged this weekend. Here's a look at each of them.
SEE: Schedule, Picks and Scores
North Carolina scored first and Clemson QB D.J. Uiagalelei struggled early. Cade Klubnik came off the bench to immediately spark the Tigers' offense and Clemson rolled 39-10 over the Tar Heels in Charlotte. Klubnik finished 20-of-24 for 279 yards and 2 TD's (1 rushing) as North Carolina dropped a third straight game and fell to 9-4. Clemson enters the bowl season at 11-2.
Clemson has won 7 of the last 8 ACC titles. North Carolina has 5 in its 70-year history in the ACC which all came between 1963 and 1980.
The ACC officially now says 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.
Bowl eligible members (9):
ATLANTIC: Clemson (11-2, 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 (9-4, 6-2), Pittsburgh (8-4, 5-3), Duke (8-4, 5-3).
From 2-10 a year ago, to 11-2 and a Cotton Bowl berth in 2022.
Tulane knocked off UCF 45-28 in New Orleans to claim its first conference championship since winning the Conference USA title in 1998.
Both won their regular season finales to get here. Tulane clinched hosting duties with a 27-24 upset win at Cincinnati and UCF averted an 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 (11-2, 7-1), UCF (9-4, 6-2), Cincinnati (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).
Michigan outscored Purdue 29-9 after halftime and laid claim to its first-ever 13-win season with a 43-22 win over the Boilermakers in the B1G Championship in Indianapolis. It's the second straight conference title for the Wolverines and protects their status as no less than the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff. Michigan looks to win its first national title since earning split title with Nebraska in 1997.
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, returned to play in this game and threw for 366 yards but also had 2 picks and no TD's. Purdue was looking for its first outright title in the conference since 1929, though the school has 6 shared titles since then with the last coming in 2000.
Michigan was without RB Blake Corum (1,463 yards, 18 TD's) after it was revealed two days before the game 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 that win. Edwards had another top outing against Purdue with 185 yards and a TD while J.J. McCarthy threw 3 TD passes to 3 different receivers.
Bowl eligible members (9):
EAST: Michigan (13-0, 9-0), Ohio State (11-1, 8-1), Penn State (10-2, 7-2), Maryland (7-5, 4-5).
WEST: Purdue (8-5, 6-3), Illinois (8-4, 5-4), Iowa (7-5, 5-4), Minnesota (8-4, 5-4), Wisconsin (6-6, 4-5)
TCU's undefeated season came to an end in Arlington as Kansas State notched its first double-digit win campaign (10-3) since 2012 and claimed its first conference title since that same year.
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, and was looking to claim its first outright Big 12 title after sharing it with Baylor in 2014.
This was the most entertaining game of the championship weekend. TCU scored first, but Kansas State went in front 14-7 with 10:16 left in the first half. The Wildcats kept the lead until the Horned Frogs tied it at 28 on Max Duggan's 8-yard run with 1:51 remaining in the game.
A goal line stand by Kansas State on TCU's opening overtime possession left the Wildcats a field goal away from victory and Ty Zentner's 31-yarder did the trick.
Kansas State will play in the Sugar Bowl, while TCU is almost certainly going to be in the Final Four playoff.
Bowl eligible (8): TCU (12-1, 9-0), Kansas State (10-3, 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).
UTSA handled North Texas 48-27 at home to give the Roadrunners back-to-back titles. It was rematch of a regular season game that UTSA won 31-27, also at home, on October 22.
Ironically, 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. And yet, the Owls learned their 5-7 record and APR score earned them bowl eligibility.
UTSA is 20-1 in its last 21 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 regular season finale at North Texas when the Mean Green scored a 45-23 upset.
Bowl eligible (6): UTSA (11-2, 8-0), North Texas (7-6, 6-2), Western Kentucky (8-5, 6-2), MTSU (7-5, 4-4), UAB (6-6, 4-4), Rice (5-7, but APR eligible)
NOTE: UAB is scheduled to play Miami (Ohio) in the Bahamas Bowl.
ALSO: Middle Tennessee is scheduled to play San Jose State in the Hawaii Bowl.
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 had lined up a game against FCS member Valparaiso for Saturday with a chance to get to 6-6 and followed through on hat pursuit with a 65-3 rout.
Bowl eligible (5): Notre Dame (8-4), Liberty (8-4), BYU (7-5), UConn (6-6), New Mexico State (6-6)
Toledo was in the championship game in Detroit for the first time since 2017 when the Rockets beat Akron for the title. Toledo limped in to this game after losing 20-14 at Western Michigan on Black Friday for its second straight loss to wind 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 was still able to advance to the championship because of its head-to-head win over EMU on October 29 at Ypsilanti.
The Rockets had lost 3 of their last 5 games as they had to lean extensively on freshman QB Tucker Gleason over three of the last four games while Dequan "DQ" Finn dealt with shoulder and ankle injuries. Finn, who returned for this game, threw for 154 yards and ran for 86 to help lead the Rockets to victory.
Ohio had entered on a 7-game winning streak after defeating Bowling Green 38-14 on November 22 in a de facto MAC East Championship game.
Ohio, which hasn't won the MAC title since 1968, is now 0-5 in MAC Championship games since the conference began staging one in 1997. The Bobcats had previous cracks at the crown in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2016. Ohio was without QB Kurtis Rourke who was still the MAC's leading passer, by far, even though he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Ball State game on November 15. Redshirt sophomore C.J. Harris threw for 163 yards with no TD's and an INT.
Toledo and Ohio did not meet in the regular season.
In another MAC story line this week, Buffalo ended a 3-game losing streak and finally reached bowl eligibility with a 23-22 win over Akron on Friday afternoon. It wasn't easy as the Bulls had to rally from a 16-0 deficit and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:15 left. The game against the Zips was supposed to have been played on November 19, but was snowed-out.
Bowl eligible (6):
EAST: Ohio (9-4, 7-1), Bowling Green (6-6, 5-3), Buffalo (6-6, 5-3), Miami (6-6, 4-4).
WEST: Toledo (8-5, 5-3), Eastern Michigan (8-4, 5-3).
NOTE: Miami is scheduled to play UAB in the Bahamas Bowl.
The championship clash was 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. This one, also played in Boise, went quite differently.
QB Jake Haener, who sat out the regular season game with an ankle injury, threw for 184 and a TD in the 28-16 win for the Bulldogs who only trailed once at 3-0 in the first quarter. Fresno State expanded the lead to 28-9 before the Broncos tallied their only TD of the game with 5:17 left to play.
Both division winners hosted their regular season finale games on the Friday after Thanksgiving. 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 (9-4, 8-0), Wyoming (7-5, 5-3), Utah State (6-6, 5-3), Air Force (9-3, 5-3)
WEST: Fresno State (9-4, 7-1), San Diego State (7-5, 5-3), San Jose State (7-4, 5-3).
NOTE: San Jose State is scheduled to play Middle Tennessee in the Hawaii Bowl.
The favored Trojans (-2.5) were hefty 10.48-point underdogs by the Congrove Computer Rankings and we thought the computer pick was way off the mark. for
But after falling behind 17-3 with 12:08 to play in the first half, Utah outscored USC 44-7 and claimed a third straight win over the Trojans (two this season) and back-to-back PAC-12 titles.
Bowl eligible (7): USC (11-1, 8-1), Utah (10-3, 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).
Georgia began its season in Atlanta with a rout of Oregon. The Bulldogs returned to tame LSU 50-30 and claim their first SEC title since 2017.
LSU had won 4 of the last 5 meetings with Georgia, 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 (13-0, 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 (9-4, 6-2), Alabama (10-2, 6-2), Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4), Ole Miss (8-4, 4-4), Arkansas (6-6, 3-5).
Even with Grayson McCall back at quarterback for the Chanticleers, Troy was too much to handle as the Trojans scored the first 31 points of the game and won 45-26 at home. McCall wound up throwing for 319 yards and 3 TD's, while Gunnar Watson passed for 318 and 3 scores for Troy.
The victory extended Troy's winning streak to 10 games, tied with UTSA for the third-longest in the nation and only trailing Georgia;'s 15 and Michigan's 13.
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 wasn't eligible for the conference championship or a bowl game per NCAA rules in their first year of transition from FCS to FBS.
The Trojans and Chanticleers did not meet in the regular season.
Bowl eligible (7):
EAST: Coastal (9-3, 6-2), Marshall (8-4, 5-3), Georgia Southern (6-6, 2-5).
WEST: Troy (11-2, 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. NMSU won 65-3
The FBS was 112-8 (.933) vs. the FCS this year, and is now 1,686-148 (.919) since we began tracking this in 2003.
116 of the 131 FBS schools played at least one such game while Appalachian State, Army, Marshall and New Mexico State 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 15 straight over-all. Won 11 straight true road games.
Last: Won 50-30 over LSU in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta on Saturday, December 3.
Next: FBS Playoff
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 15 straight conference games, including B1G Championship games.
Last: Won 43-22 over Purdue in Big Ten Championship game 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.
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.