Last weekend was the last weekend of the regular season for most conferences. It's Championship Week for them. Two conferences don't have a conference championship game. So, in order to make sure they're still on the Committee's mind, they have their final regular season games this weekend. Those conferences are the BigXII and the Sun Belt.
FRIDAY
Two championship games! What happens in the first game (Ohio vs (17) Western Michigan) could go a long way toward determining who goes to the New Years Six bowls for the Group of Five conferences. Game 2 has playoff implications. A win by Washington and they're surely in the Playoff. A win by Colorado and the Final Four might feature two Big Ten schools, once of which won't be a conference champion. Though there's always the chance Colorado jumps into the Final Four.
SATURDAY
NOON
The American Athletic Conference Championship should be a great game and could end with (19) Navy winning its first-ever conference title. It could also see the Midshipmen heading to the New Years Six should Western Michigan lose Friday night.
At the same time, the Conference USA Championship will feature Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky. Yeah, I'm not excited to watch that one, either.
If you're interested in scouting Auburn's likely bowl opponent, there's Bedlam to watch. The winner of Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State will likely end up as Auburn's opponent in the Sugar Bowl should the Tigers get that spot. If the Committee goes HAM and moves the BigXII champion into the Playoff due to chaos, then Auburn's opponent may be the loser of this game. Or, there could be a whole lot of chaos and Auburn doesn't go to the Sugar Bowl because Florida beats Alabama.
There are certainly no other games you should watch at that time frame. Just ignore the Sun Belt games for my sake.
MID-AFTERNOON
The SEC Championship game is on at 3:30. Watch it if you want to just to yell about how much we all don't like listening to Verne Lundquist one final time.
EVENING
If you want to see one of the best running backs you may not have heard of this season, then watch San Diego State take on Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference Championship. Donnel Pumphrey is going to be a name you hear a lot in the draft and in the years to come.
The most important games as far as the Playoffs are concerned, though, are the ACCCG and the B1GCG. Those will go a long way towards deciding whether there's chaos or predictability in the Final Four.
Enjoy it while you can, folks. After this weekend, we're Army-Navy and the bowls from the off season.
Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Streaming |
MACCG: Ohio vs. (17) Western Michigan | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
Pac12CG: (8) Colorado vs. (4) Washington | 9:00 p.m. | FOX / FS Go |
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Streaming |
AACCG: Temple at (19) Navy | 12 p.m. | ABC / WatchESPN |
CUSACG: LA Tech at Western Kentucky | 12 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Kansas State at TCU | 12 p.m. | FS1 / FS Go |
Troy at Georgia Southern | 12 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
(10) Oklahoma State at (9) Oklahoma | 12:30 p.m. | FOX / FS Go |
New Mexico State at South Alabama | 1:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
UL Lafayette at UL Monroe | 3:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Baylor at (16) West Virginia | 3:30 p.m. | FS1 / FS Go |
SECCG: (1) Alabama vs. (15) Florida | 4:00 p.m. | CBS / CBSSports.com |
SWACCG: Alcorn State vs. Grambling State | 4:00 p.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
Georgia State at Idaho | 5:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Arkansas State at Texas State | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
MWCCG: SDSU vs. Wyoming | 7:45 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
B1GCG: (7) Penn State vs. (6) Wisconsin | 8:00 p.m. | FOX / FS Go |
ACCCG: (3) Clemson vs. (23) Virginia Tech | 8:00 p.m. | ABC / WatchESPN |