Weekly Preview: Teams Close In On Conference Championships Berths

November 13, 2019 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

The stretch run to the finish line begins in earnest this week with a handful of teams in position to clinch a berth in their respective conference championship game.

Georgia, newly elevated from 6th to 4th in the Championship Playoff Committee rankings, must travel to Auburn to face the committee's 12th-ranked squad. With 123 meetings already under their belts, this rivalry is tied with North Carolina-Virginia as the 3rd most-played in the FBS. It ranks only behind Cincinnati-Miami (124) and Minnesota-Wisconsin (129). Georgia clinches the SEC East with a win and Vegas has the 'Dawgs favored by 3 while the computer (Congrove Computer Rankings) lowers that number to 1.64.

Another battle among ranked teams has the committee's 10th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners visiting the 13th-ranked Baylor Bears. Oklahoma opened as a 10-point favorite and remained there early Wednesday morning. The computer gives Lincoln Riley's squad a 7.06-point edge. A Baylor win, coupled with a Texas loss at Iowa State, and the Bears and Sooners become a virtual lock for a rematch in Arlington for the Big 12 Championship.

Oregon, Cincinnati and Minnesota can also sew up a division title this week.

The Ducks are a 27-point Vegas favorite, and a 28.47-point computer pick, to win at home over Arizona and claim the PAC-12 North title.

Cincinnati will capture the American Conference's East division crown with a win at South Florida where the Bearcats are a 14-point Vegas favorite and have a 14.20-point computer edge.

Minnesota needs a win and a little cooperation to nail down the Big Ten's West division title. The Golden Gophers are actually a 3-point underdog at Iowa on Saturday, and 4.10-point computer dog. If Minnesota can overcome the odds and pull out the victory, it still needs a Wisconsin loss at Nebraska to close the deal.

A 55-game slate began Tuesday night with Eastern Michigan cruising to a lopsided 42-14 win at Akron, and Western Michigan scoring a 37-34 knockout of Ohio in Athens.

There are 24 idle teams this week, but every team in the committee's top 25 will see action.

No. 1 LSU (-21, Vegas) gets a 21.68-point nod at Ole Miss, No.  2 Ohio State (-52) is a 51.08-point computer choice at Rutgers, and No. 3 Clemson (-33) gets a favorable 26.77-point margin from the computer.

Some other teams to watch this week include Florida State, Virginia Tech and Indiana.

Florida State can become bowl-eligible this week by not stubbing its toe at home versus FCS member Alabama State. The 'Noles had their bowl streak end last year after 36 consecutive postseason appearances. The computer likes FSU by 38.08.

Virginia Tech currently has the longest bowl appearance streak at 26 and will move one step closer to making it 27 with a win at Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Hokies are a 6.03-point computer pick..

An upset victory at Penn State (8-1) would give Indiana (7-2) its first 8-win season since 1993. The Hoosiers are a 16.37-point underdog.

Notre Dame is only a 9.5-point betting favorite, but gets a whopping 32.30-point computer edge. I'm sensing the real number falls somewhere in between, but the 7-1 Midshipmen could be a dangerous foe for the Irish. Navy leads the nation in rushing at 357.88 yards per game while Notre Dame ranks 36th in run defense by allowing.139.46 yards per game and a total of 16 rushing touchdowns.

Utah hosts a suddenly dangerous UCLA team that is riding a 3-game winning streak and is coming off a bye week. If the Bruins win this week's game at Utah, and next week's game at USC, they can take command of the PAC-12 South. The Utes are a 21-point Vegas favorite and an 18.12-point computer pick.

FBS vs. FCS

114 games this year pit FBS teams against FCS schools. That's two more than a season ago when FBS teams won 105 of 112 games.

Four FBS teams face a FCS school this week - Army, BYU, Florida State and New Mexico State. Six such games will take place next week to finish out the FBS-FCS matchups for 2019.

FBS teams are 101-3 (.971) for the season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS schools are 1,425-127 (.918).

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2018
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Streaks

CLEMSON - Won 25 straight over-all (FBS longest). Won 27 straight regular season games (FBS longest) games. Won 20 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 21 straight home games (FBS longest). Won 11 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 55-10 at NC State on November 9.
Next: Hosts Wake Forest on November 16.

RUTGERS - Lost 18 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: 38-10 loss at Illinois on November 2.
Next: Hosts Ohio State on November 16.

AKRON - Lost 14 straight overall (FBS longest). Lost 6 straight home games (tied with Rice for FBS longest).
Last: Lost 35-6 at Bowling Green on November 2.
Next: Hosts Eastern Michigan on November 12.

NEW MEXICO STATE - Lost 15 straight vs FBS teams (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 41-3 at Ole Miss on November 9.
Next: Hosts FCS member Incarnate Word on November 16.

RICE - Lost 15 straight road games (FBS longest). Lost 6 straight home games (tied with Akron for FBS longest).
Last: Lost 20-7 at home to Marshall on November 2.
Next: Visits MTSU on November 16.