Georgia, Michigan, Washington, and Florida State Remain Undefeated Going Into Conference Championship Games

Thanksgiving weekend marked the end of college football’s regular season play (except for the Army Navy game on December 9th). Conference championship games are set for December 1st-2nd. These will determine which four teams will go to the College Football Playoff. The rest, along with most other FBS teams with six or more victories, will go to bowl games that are not part of the College Football Playoffs.

The top four teams are #1 Georgia, #2 Michigan, #3 Washington, and #4 Florida State. All four are 12-0, and if they win their conference championship games, they’d probably all be in the CFB. (Liberty, in Conference-USA, is also 12-0 and ranked 20th, but they aren’t in contention for the CFB; neither are #17 Tulane, #23 Toledo, or #24 James Madison, all 11-1. It’s just not happening). Four teams that are 11-1 are still in contention for the CFB. Those are #5 Oregon, #6 Ohio State, #7 Texas, and #8 Alabama. If any of these 11-1 teams win their conference championship games, they could very well get a CFB slot, depending on how these conference championships go.

Take for example, #1 Georgia and #8 Alabama in the SEC Championship. Georgia is the defending National Champion and has been ranked #1 all season. Because of that, if Alabama did beat Georgia, the Crimson Tide might get an invite, and the Bulldogs could too, as two from the same conference can get in the CFB. Two years ago both Georgia and Alabama were in, as were the Big Ten’s Michigan and Ohio State last year.

Speaking of Ohio State, the Buckeyes will probably have to settle for a non CFB bowl game. Michigan beat the Buckeyes on November 25th, and will play Iowa (10-2) in the Big Ten Championship. OSU might sneak in if all four of the undefeated teams lost their games, or if Georgia won and the other three lost, and Florida State and Texas lost. Not reaching the conference championship makes it extremely unlikely OSU will return to the CFB this year.

Oregon will take on Washington for the Pac-12 championship, and this matchup is a good one. The Huskies beat the Ducks 36-33 in the regular season, handing Oregon its only loss. The winner will undoubtedly get a CFB bid, but if Oregon wins a close game, Washington may still have an outside shot at a bid, but an Oregon blowout could blow out the Huskies chances.

Texas plays Oklahoma State (10-2) for the Big 12 championship. The Longhorns handed Alabama its only loss of the season back in September, and lost to only 10-2 Oklahoma. Texas should leap over Ohio State with a win over the Cowboys, and put them on the cusp of a bid, especially if Florida State loses to Louisville (10-2) in the ACC championship.

However this all plays out, someone will complain, justifiably, that their school should be in the CFB. Next year, the field will grow to 12 teams from the current four.

Here’s some highlights from the Ohio State-Michigan game: