It's championship week in college football. Regrettably, Ohio State is not included in the festivities, but the weekend's slate of games is long on intrigue and excitement.
Ohio State fans and football players alike will be reduced to the role of cheerleaders this weekend. The Buckeyes are currently No. 6 in the playoff rankings and could conceivably sneak into the field of four. However, it needs a lot of games to go its way. North Carolina needs to upset Clemson. That should knock Clemson out the playoff and, given its schedule, still preclude North Carolina from taking its spot.
If Florida upsets Alabama Saturday afternoon, that should knock the SEC from the playoff altogether.
Two-loss Stanford may still be left outside the playoff if it wins the Pac-12 Championship Game. A USC win at least assures the Pac-12 is left out.
It's a shame Ohio State isn't playing this weekend, but here is your viewing guide all the same.
Friday
Bowling Green vs. Northern Illinois (ESPN2, 8 p.m.). This is a rematch of last year's MAC Championship Game, which Northern Illinois won by 34 points. The Huskies should send a gift basket to Western Michigan. Northern Illinois lost on Tuesday last week, which opened the door for Toledo to advance to Detroit with a win over Western Michigan. That failed to materialize last Friday.
Saturday
Temple at Houston (ABC, 12 p.m.). This is the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship Game. The winner of this game is guaranteed a berth in the "New Year's Six" as the highest-ranked Group of Five team this season.
Texas at Baylor (ESPN, 12 p.m.). God bless the Big XII. It tried hard to gerrymander the schedule to make sure it had high-profile, potentially conference championship-deciding games this week. Oklahoma won the league last week. The only intrigue here concerns whether Texas slides to 4-8 this year.
Southern Mississippi at Western Kentucky (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). This is the Conference USA Football Championship Game, pitting 10-2 Western Kentucky at home against 9-3 Southern Mississippi. Per conference bylaws, the winner of this game gets to pick its choice of bowl game. Here's a hint: it will probably be the one in the Bahamas if the players had their choice.
Florida at Alabama (CBS, 4 p.m.). Go Gata!
This matchup constitutes seven of all 24 SEC Championship Games contested to this point (i.e. about 30%). The next most frequent pairings (e.g. Florida-Arkansas, Tennessee-LSU, Tennessee-Auburn, Georgia-LSU) have occurred just twice.
West Virginia at Kansas State (FOX Sports 1, 4:30 p.m.). 7-4 West Virginia visits 5-6 Kansas State. I mean, you could watch this if you would like...
Air Force at San Diego State (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.). This is the third ever Mountain West Conference Championship Game.
I'm not sure what happens to the winner of this game. The Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl is nominally the first bowl game for the conference champion, but that's provided that bowl game doesn't take BYU. However, that bowl game really wants 9-3 BYU this year.
USC vs. Stanford (ESPN, 7:45 p.m.). Fight on!
All the same, keep your eye on this one. If Ohio State does not advance to the playoff, it might get the Pac-12 champion in Pasadena.
Michigan State vs. Iowa (FOX, 8 p.m.). Don't you wish college football was more like professional wrestling sometimes? My ideal outcome is an Ohio State "run-in", preferably with Urban Meyer on an ATV or beer truck, chugging beer and braining dudes with a steel chair.
The Big Ten champion will be in the playoff this year, so I'm not sure you have that much of a rooting interest one way or the other. An Iowa win on Saturday makes Ohio State a more attractive New Year's Six selection for the Rose Bowl than two-loss Michigan State, though.
North Carolina at Clemson (ABC, 8 p.m.). Go Tar Heels!
That said, if the outcome of this game is determined by each state's barbecue, Clemson will win this by seven touchdowns and probably go for two after another garbage time touchdown.
