Conference championship weekend kicks off out west Friday night with Oregon and Utah clashing in the Pac-12 Championship game. With a live broadcast on ABC, it will be a rare opportunity for the Pac-12 to showcase itself to the nation in the otherwise maligned Friday night window.
For Utah, it is a second chance to prove itself in a marquee Friday night game. The Utes’ lone loss came back in September when USC pulled off an upset at the L.A. Coliseum in a short week for both teams. That remains Utah’s only loss of the year, and it may be positioned for a berth in the College Football Playoff should it be able to win the conference title.
A win for the Utes will make things very interesting on Saturday, especially in Arlington, Texas, where Oklahoma is vying not only for the Big 12 Championship, but to overcome Utah in the CFP Rankings. Utah has been consistently ranked ahead of the Sooners the last several weeks, but it’s not a sure thing the Utes would still be higher even if they win on Friday. An impressive Oklahoma win could be enough to sway the committee in the final rankings revealed on Sunday.
As it stands, the Sooners will have their hands full with a Baylor team that could have (should have?) beaten Oklahoma just a few weeks ago. The Bears still have a path to the playoff, but they need help. The first order of business would be Oregon defeating Utah, the second would be their own win over Oklahoma on Saturday morning and the third would be an LSU victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship later in the day.
Few are giving the Bulldogs a chance to beat the Tigers in Atlanta, but it is clearly a win and in scenario for Georgia. If they do knock off LSU, they will be a 1-loss SEC champion comfortably in the top four. Should they lose, it is expected a 1-loss conference champion from the Pac-12 (Utah) or Big 12 (Oklahoma/Baylor) would jump into the top four.
The nightcaps on Saturday leave a lot to be desired, at least on paper. Clemson is a four-touchdown favorite over Virginia in the ACC Championship game, while Ohio State is favored by more than two touchdowns over Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship. These are win and in games for the Tigers and Buckeyes.
However, should there be an upset in either of those contests, then things get very interesting. On Tuesday, the CFP Committee surprisingly slotted the Badgers at No. 8 – the highest ranking for any 2-loss team in the country. Could there be a path for the Badgers if the dominoes fell properly in other conference championship games? As for Clemson, a loss (as a four-touchdown favorite) would prove especially costly given a relatively weak schedule compared to other 1 and 2-loss teams that would be in the mix.
Indeed, there is a lot that could happen in the next two days before the CFP Committee must compile its final rankings. While it is not necessarily looking like there will be chaos, sometimes that is the perfect opportunity for the unexpected to happen.
It all starts Friday night in Santa Clara.
Last week, my picks to click went 19-2 straight up, 12-9 against the spread and 10-11 against the game totals. The season tallies now stand at 233-60 straight up, 137-135-2 against the spread and 139-130-5 against the totals.
Now, for this week’s picks, which include all 10 conference championships this weekend.
Week 15 Picks to Click:
Conference Championship Games
Pac-12 Championship Game (Santa Clara, Calif.)
#5 Utah vs. #13
Oregon
Friday
| 6 p.m. | ABC
Spread: Utah, -7 | O/U: 45.5
Pick: Utah, 28-20
Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship (Arlington, Texas)
#8 Baylor vs. #6
Oklahoma
Saturday
| 10 a.m. | ABC
Spread: Oklahoma, -8.5 | O/U: 65
Pick: Oklahoma, 34-27
Sun Belt Championship Game (Boone, N.C.)
Louisiana at #20
Appalachian State
Saturday | 10 a.m. | ESPN
Spread: Appalachian State, -6.5 | O/U:
56
Pick: Appalachian State, 33-24
Marathon MAC Championship Game (Detroit, Mich.)
Miami (Ohio) vs.
Central Michigan
Saturday | 10 a.m. | ESPN2
Spread: Central Michigan, -6.5 | O/U:
54.5
Pick: Miami, 31-28
Conference USA Championship (Boca Raton, Fla.)
UAB at Florida Atlantic
Saturday | 11:30 a.m. | CBSSN
Spread: Florida Atlantic, -8 | O/U:
50
Pick: Florida Atlantic, 24-17
American Athletic Conference Championship Game (Memphis, Tenn.)
#21 Cincinnati at #16
Memphis
Saturday | 1:30 p.m. | ABC
Spread: Memphis, -9 | O/U: 57.5
Pick: Memphis, 35-27
SEC Championship Game (Atlanta, Ga.)
#4 Georgia vs. #1 LSU
Saturday | 2 p.m. | CBS
Spread: LSU, -7 | O/U: 55.5
Pick: LSU, 27-23
Mountain West Championship Game (Boise, Idaho)
Hawai’i at #19 Boise
State
Saturday
| 2 p.m. | ESPN
Spread: Boise State, -13.5 | O/U:
64.5
Pick: Boise State, 35-24
ACC Championship Game (Charlotte, N.C.)
#22 Virginia vs. #3
Clemson
Saturday
| 5:30 p.m. | ABC
Spread: Clemson, -28 | O/U: 57.5
Pick: Clemson, 44-14
Big Ten Championship Game (Indianapolis, Ind.)
#2 Ohio State vs. #10
Wisconsin
Saturday
| 6 p.m. | FOX
Spread: Ohio State, -15.5 | O/U:
56.5
Pick: Ohio State, 28-13
Notes:
- All times listed are MST
- Rankings from the Associated Press Top 25
- Point spread/game totals from http://www.sportsbetting.ag as of Thursday at 10 a.m.
- Pac-12 games shaded above in gray
2019 Record (Last Week)
All Games Straight Up: 233-60 (19-2)
All Games ATS: 137-135-2 (12-9)
All Games O/U: 139-130-5 (10-11)
Pac-12 Straight Up: 50-28 (5-0)
Pac-12 ATS: 37-33-1 (5-0)
Pac-12 O/U: 37-32-2 (3-2)
* Arizona games not included
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