{"id":320712,"date":"2025-11-29T15:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T15:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/320712\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T15:39:10","slug":"college-football-conference-championship-scenarios-who-can-clinch-and-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/320712\/","title":{"rendered":"College football conference championship scenarios: Who can clinch and how"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of Ohio State vs. Michigan<\/a> from college football rivalry week.<\/p>\n

On the final Saturday of the college football regular season, there\u2019s plenty still at stake.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s games cleared up some of the conference championship picture: Georgia (SEC), Indiana (Big Ten), Texas Tech and BYU (Big 12) and North Texas (American) all punched their tickets to championship week.<\/p>\n

But across the nine FBS conferences, only the Big 12 has a title matchup set entering Saturday\u2019s games.<\/p>\n

The scenarios for some, like the SEC and Big Ten, are relatively simple. As for the ACC \u2026 well, time to study up on tiebreakers.<\/p>\n

Here are all of the possible conference title game matchups \u2014 and what needs to happen Saturday to get there.<\/p>\n

SEC<\/p>\n

SEC championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

11-1<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

11-1<\/p>\n

6-1<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

Clinched:\u00a0Georgia<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Ole Miss 38, Mississippi State 19
\nTexas 27, Texas A&M 17
\nAlabama at Auburn (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Alabama-Georgia<\/p>\n

Alabama wins<\/p>\n

Georgia-Ole Miss<\/p>\n

Alabama loses
\nBig Ten<\/p>\n

Big Ten championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

9-0<\/p>\n

12-0<\/p>\n

8-0<\/p>\n

11-0<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

10-1<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

Clinched: Indiana<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Indiana 56, Purdue 3
\nOhio State at Michigan (Saturday, noon ET)
\nOregon at Washington (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Indiana-Ohio State<\/p>\n

Ohio State wins<\/p>\n

Indiana-Oregon<\/p>\n

Michigan wins\/Ohio State loses + Oregon wins<\/p>\n

Indiana-Michigan<\/p>\n

Michigan wins\/Ohio State loses + Oregon loses
\nBig 12<\/p>\n

Big 12 championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

10-1<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

10-1<\/p>\n

Clinched:\u00a0Texas Tech, BYU<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Utah 31, Kansas 21
\nArizona 23, Arizona State 7
\nTexas Tech at West Virginia (Saturday, noon ET)
\nUCF at BYU (Saturday, 1 p.m. ET)
\nTitle-game matchup<\/p>\n

Texas Tech and BYU both clinched spots in the Big 12 title game before playing this week because of Arizona State\u2019s loss to Arizona on Friday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ACC<\/p>\n

ACC championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

6-1<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

6-1<\/p>\n

8-3<\/p>\n

6-1<\/p>\n

8-3<\/p>\n

6-2<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

6-5<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Miami at Pitt (Saturday, noon ET)
\nBoston College at Syracuse (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET)
\nWake Forest at Duke (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
\nVirginia Tech at Virginia (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET)
\nUNC at NC State (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
\nSMU at Cal (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Virginia-SMU<\/p>\n

Virginia wins + SMU wins, OR
\nVirginia wins + SMU loses + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + Wake Forest wins + UNC wins<\/p>\n

Virginia-Pitt<\/p>\n

Virginia wins + Pitt wins\/Miami loses + SMU loses<\/p>\n

SMU-Pitt<\/p>\n

SMU wins + Pitt wins\/Miami loses + Virginia loses<\/p>\n

Virginia-Duke<\/p>\n

Virginia wins + Duke wins + SMU loses + Miami wins\/Pitt loses, OR
\nVirginia loses + Duke wins + SMU loses + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + UNC wins<\/p>\n

Virginia-Miami<\/p>\n

Virginia wins + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + SMU loses + Duke loses + NC State wins + Syracuse wins, OR
\nVirginia loses + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + SMU loses + Duke loses + UNC wins + Syracuse wins<\/p>\n

SMU-Duke<\/p>\n

SMU wins + Duke wins + Virginia loses + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + UNC wins<\/p>\n

SMU-Miami<\/p>\n

SMU wins + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + Virginia loses + Duke loses<\/p>\n

Pitt-Georgia Tech<\/p>\n

Pitt wins\/Miami loses + Virginia loses + SMU loses<\/p>\n

Duke-Miami<\/p>\n

Duke wins + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + Virginia loses + SMU loses + NC State wins<\/p>\n

Miami-Georgia Tech<\/p>\n

Miami wins\/Pitt loses + Virginia loses + SMU loses + Duke loses + NC State wins<\/p>\n

Virginia-Georgia Tech, Miami or SMU*<\/p>\n

Virginia wins + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + SMU loses + Duke loses + NC State wins + Boston College wins, OR
\nVirginia loses + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + SMU loses + Duke loses + UNC wins + Boston College wins<\/p>\n

SMU-Duke or Miami*<\/p>\n

SMU wins + Duke wins + Miami wins\/Pitt loses + Virginia loses + NC State wins<\/p>\n

*In the last two scenarios, the second spot in the ACC championship would be decided by SportSource rating score, the sixth tiebreaker criterion.<\/p>\n

American<\/p>\n

American championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

11-1<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

6-1<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

Clinched:\u00a0North Texas<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Navy 28, Memphis 17
\nNorth Texas 52, Temple 25
\nCharlotte at Tulane (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Tulane-North Texas<\/p>\n

Tulane wins<\/p>\n

North Texas-Navy<\/p>\n

Tulane loses
\nConference USA<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET)
\nKennesaw State at Liberty (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Western Kentucky-Kennesaw State<\/p>\n

Western Kentucky wins\/Jacksonville State loses + Kennesaw State wins<\/p>\n

Jacksonville State-Kennesaw State<\/p>\n

Jacksonville State wins\/Western Kentucky loses<\/p>\n

Western Kentucky-Jacksonville State<\/p>\n

Western Kentucky wins\/Jacksonville State loses + Kennesaw State loses
\nMAC<\/p>\n

MAC championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

7-1<\/p>\n

8-4<\/p>\n

6-2<\/p>\n

8-4<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

7-4<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

7-4<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

6-5<\/p>\n

Clinched:\u00a0Western Michigan<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Western Michigan 31, Eastern Michigan 21
\nOhio 31, Buffalo 26
\nToledo at Central Michigan (Saturday, noon ET)
\nBall State at Miami (Ohio) (Saturday, noon ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Western Michigan vs. Miami (Ohio)<\/p>\n

Miami (Ohio) wins<\/p>\n

Western Michigan vs. Toledo*<\/p>\n

Toledo wins + Miami (Ohio) loses<\/p>\n

*The team with the higher rating (Toledo or Ohio) from SportSource Analytics would advance. Toledo\u2019s rating was better entering the weekend.<\/p>\n

Western Michigan vs. Ohio*<\/p>\n

Miami (Ohio) loses + Central Michigan wins\/Toledo loses<\/p>\n

*The team with the higher rating (Ohio or Central Michigan) from SportSource Analytics would advance. Ohio\u2019s rating was better entering the weekend.<\/p>\n

Mountain West<\/p>\n

Mountain West championship race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

6-2<\/p>\n

9-3<\/p>\n

6-2<\/p>\n

9-3<\/p>\n

6-2<\/p>\n

8-4<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

9-2<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

New Mexico 23, San Diego State 17 (2OT)
\nBoise State 25, Utah State 24
\nUNLV at Nevada (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET)
\nPossible matchups<\/p>\n

Some combination of San Diego State, Boise State, New Mexico and UNLV<\/p>\n

The Mountain West is guaranteed to have at least a three-way tie atop the standings at 6-2, and it will become a four-way tie if UNLV defeats Nevada. According to the conference tiebreaker scenarios<\/a>, because not all teams within the tied group played each other, the matchup will be determined by a composite average of predictive and results-based metrics on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Sun Belt<\/p>\n

Sun Belt West Division race<\/p>\n

TeamConference recordOverall<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

7-4<\/p>\n

5-2<\/p>\n

7-4<\/p>\n

Clinched: James Madison has already clinched the East with a 7-0 conference record.<\/p>\n

Games with title-race implications<\/p>\n

Troy at Southern Miss (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)<\/p>\n

James Madison vs. Southern Miss<\/p>\n

Southern Miss defeats Troy<\/p>\n

James Madison vs. Troy<\/p>\n

Troy defeats Southern Miss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of Ohio State vs. Michigan from college football rivalry week. On the final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1603,43942,40544,35607,1607,7091,399,6341,8942,6815,164144,118083,8951,1779,7186,1777,1770,398,396,397,43753,43750,25627,1776,19502,5693,8939,74210,5687,43749,99,13419,35605,94479,8927,100061,1773,43747,35610],"class_list":["post-320712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-boise-state-broncos","tag-byu-cougars","tag-central-michigan-chippewas","tag-college-football","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-football","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-jacksonville-state-gamecocks","tag-james-madison-dukes","tag-kennesaw-state-owls","tag-miami-oh-redhawks","tag-miami-hurricanes","tag-michigan-wolverines","tag-navy-midshipmen","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-new-mexico-lobos","tag-north-texas-mean-green","tag-ohio-bobcats","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-oregon-ducks","tag-pittsburgh-panthers","tag-san-diego-state-aztecs","tag-smu-mustangs","tag-southern-mississippi-golden-eagles","tag-sports","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-toledo-rockets","tag-troy-trojans","tag-tulane-green-wave","tag-unlv-rebels","tag-virginia-cavaliers","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers","tag-western-michigan-broncos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}