Weekend Watch Guide: How to Watch All the Conference Championship Games

There were 130 FBS teams playing last week; only 20 will play this week.

It’s conference championship weekend with 10 games on tap. Here is the weekend schedule and some quick thoughts on each game.

Conference Championships

Conference USA: New Mexico State vs. No. 24 Liberty — 6 p.m. Friday on CBS Sports Network
Pac-12: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 3 Washington — 7 p.m. Friday on ABC
Big 12: No. 18 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 Texas — 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC
MAC: Miami (OH) vs. Toledo — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Mountain West: Boise State vs. UNLV — 2 p.m. Saturday on FOX
SEC: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 8 Alabama — 3 p.m. Saturday on CBS
American: SMU vs. No. 22 Tulane — 3 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Sun Belt: Appalachian State vs. Troy — 3 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Big Ten: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 16 Iowa State — 7 p.m. Saturday on FOX
ACC: No. 14 Louisville vs. No. 4 Florida State — 7 p.m. Saturday on ABC

The Conference USA title game is a rematch from Sept. 9 when Liberty beat New Mexico State 33-17. The Flames are 12-0 this season, but NMSU enters this game on an eight-game winning streak that includes a road win against Auburn.

The Pac-12 game has interesting College Football Playoff implications. It’s assumed the winner of this game will be in, but is there a chance the Huskies would stay in with a loss? Probably depends on how the rest of the weekend shakes out. Imagine the Pac-12 getting two teams in the playoff just before everyone leaves.

In Big 12 country, Texas is also on the prowl for a CFP spot, which would be the Longhorns’ first. Texas would probably benefit from not only beating OSU, but winning convincingly. UT should also hope for Oregon and Florida State losing. The Cowboys are entering this game with house money, for the most part, but it would be big for the program and the conference if OSU sent the Longhorns to the SEC without the Big 12 trophy.

Miami (OH) and Toledo have already met in the MAC this year, a game Toledo won 21-17 on the road in October. That’s one of two Miami losses this season (the other loss was a season-opener against the other Miami). Toledo hasn’t lost since its first game of the season against Illinois.

If you thought the Big 12 tiebreaker possibilities were crazy, the Mountain West’s title game was determined by computer rankings after Boise State, UNLV and San Jose State all finished level. San Jose State was the odd team out leading to this matchup between Boise State and UNLV. UNLV enters off a loss to San Jose State (awkward), while Boise State has won three in a row.

Alabama can cause some late CFP chaos if it beats Georgia. The Bulldogs would likely stay in, but what would that do for the Crimson Tide? Could Alabama springboard from No. 8 into the top four? Would the committee put Alabama in over a Texas team that beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa this season? Would the committee put Alabama in over a potentially unbeaten Florida State that would be without its starting quarterback? This thing could get wonky real quick.

The American title game features two teams with a combined three losses this season, and all of those losses are to Power Five teams. SMU is 10-2 with losses to Oklahoma and TCU. Tulane is 11-1 with a loss to Ole Miss.

The Sun Belt has 12 (12!!!) bowl eligible teams. The Big 12 often gets talked about for its parity, but seven of the Sun Belt’s 14 teams finished the regular season 6-6. Every team in the Sun Belt East is bowl eligible. It’s crazy. Appalachian State and Troy haven’t played this season, and hopefully they put on a game to celebrate how fun that conference was this season.

Iowa has the chance to prove all its doubters wrong this weekend by throwing a wrench in the playoff rankings. The Hawkeyes somehow made it all this way despite averaging only 18 points a game. Will there be an Ohio State hangover for the Wolverines? Or will they drum a Hawkeye team that lost 31-0 to Penn State? Probably the latter.

Lastly, Florida State is clutching onto the final CFP spot despite losing quarterback Jordan Travis to injury. Without Travis, the Seminoles would get no grace should they stumble here at the finish line. Louisville enters this game after a 38-31 loss to Kentucky.