Usually, Championship Weekend is a lot of fun and features a lot of quarterfinal matchups that have national title implications. There are certainly some this weekend but not as much as usual. Here's what you need to know heading into Saturday.
Here are the current teams that are in the playoff.
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Washington
Washington won emphatically over Colorado on Friday night to clinch their first Pac-12 title since the millenium and have all but wrapped up their spot in the playoff.
The talk this week about Alabama is that even though they have a conference title game against Florida, they probably would get into the playoff even if they took a loss.
Ohio State definitely will be in by the looks of it, they'll be watching Championship Weekend at home since they lost to Penn State and didn't qualify for the Big Ten Title Game as a result.
Then there's Clemson. Dabo Swinney's squad definitely will need to beat Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game and if they don't, chaos will likely ensue and the teams at 5, 6, 7 will have a chance to enter the playoff.
All in all, it's a light slate of games on Saturday but there's still some games that you definitely have to see.
9:30 am slot
#10 Oklahoma State vs #9 Oklahoma (-11.0)
The game they call "Bedlam." The Big 12 is one of the only conferences in college football without a championship game (though that will change next year). However, this is basically a Big 12 Championship Game with the winner getting a nice trophy, bragging rights, and marquee New Year's Day Bowl. This game is definitely a rivalry game but it's probably one of the most lopsided when you look at the all-time records. Right now, the Oklahoma Sooners lead the OK State Cowboys 85-18-7 and there have been periods where the Sooners have just flat out dominated the Cowboys. For example, from 1977-1994 the Sooners never lost to the Cowboys. Most of that period was due to Barry Switzer's tenure with OU as he went 15-1 against their in-state rivals. Luckily for OK State fans and neutral observers, OK State's largest donor, T. Boone Pickens has brought in a lot of money to their athletic departmen and now the Cowboys are able to close the gap a little bit against their big brothers. Since 1995, the Sooners have led the series 14-7, at least the gap has closed a little bit. Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, the last few Bedlam games have cost the Cowboys a shot at national title glory and that has given creedence to the moniker of Chokie State labeled on OK State.
Talking about the game, you certainly have a lot to look at, good quarterbacks, successful coaches, and solid skill position players. It should be a shootout with the total being placed at 76, so enjoy this start to your Saturday.
My Pick: Oklahoma with a front door cover.
*Note: I'm not putting any backup for this slot. If this game turns into a blowout, check out Navy vs Temple on ABC
1:00 pm slot
#15 Florida Gators vs #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-24.0) CBS
I'm not sure why I even put this game on here, the game doesn't mean a whole lot and it will likely be a blowout. The inagural SEC Championship Game was between these teams in 1992 and since then, seven more times with this game being the 9th meeting between the two teams to decide the SEC. Here's the most remarkable stat: Alabama's defense has not allowed a touchdown since October 24th, we'll see if Florida can change that at all. The only way Florida has a chance is if Bama lacks the focus for this game but I don't see that happening. I would just check the score of this game and see if it gets interesting.
My Pick: Alabama covers easily.
5:00 Slot
#6 Wisconsin Badgers (-3.0) vs #7 Penn State Nittany Lions FOX
This is the slot you want to be watching games in. You've got the two games that mean something in the big picture but the only problem is you have to decide which one do you want to watch. If only they put one of these 5:00 games in the 12:30 slot to evenly distribute the games, but that's okay. If any chaos ensues, one of these teams will probably be the one to take advantage, it may get fun if Clemson starts losing. Both of these teams have been nice stories an it should be a very competitive game.
My Pick: Penn State OUTRIGHT.
Backup: #23 Virginia Tech Hokies vs #3 Clemson Tigers (-10.5) ABC
Even if you're not watching this game, make sure that you see the score at all times, know when it's time to stop paying attention or flip over to it. Virginia Tech has a shot to create chaos and we'll see if they can get it done. Keep an eye on Clemson's quarterback DeShaun Watson who needs to get back to the level we saw from him last season.
My Pick: Virginia Tech covers but loses.
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