NCAAF Championship Primer: USC-Utah Rematch in Spotlight

It is interesting that Ohio State is now listed by the college football playoff odds at +800 in the odds to win the national title followed by USC at +1000 and TCU at +1200, so perhaps TCU’s CFP spot isn’t a sure thing after all.

Let’s check the latest NCAAF picks, stats, injury reports, and NCAAF predictions. We’ve plenty of NCAAF expert picks for you to consider.

Championship Games to Watch

• Pac 12 Championship: Utah vs Southern California, Friday, Dec. 2, 8 p.m. ET
• Big 12 Championship: Kansas State vs Texas Christian, Saturday, Dec. 3, Noon ET
• SEC Championship: Louisiana State vs Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 3, 4 p.m. ET
• Big Ten Championship: Purdue vs Michigan, Saturday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m.

Defending Champions Leading the Way

Georgia began its national title defense with an emphatic 49-3 dismantling of Oregon and counting that win, the Bulldogs own four victories against teams currently in the top 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Georgia’s margin of victory against No. 15 Oregon, No. 20 South Carolina, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 25 Mississippi State is 31.8 points. The toughest tests have come against unranked teams with Georgia only winning at Missouri by four points and at Kentucky by 10.

Louisiana State should prove a worthy adversary in the SEC Championship Game. However, even with a loss, it is hard to imagine Georgia not being part of the CFB field.

Wolverines Back for More

It wasn’t too long ago when it was suggesting that time was running out on Jim Harbaugh’s tenure as Michigan’s head coach because of his inability to win the big game. After beating Ohio State 42-27 and 45-23 in the last two years, the naysayers have been rather quiet.

Ready to make our return trip to Indy for the B1G Championship!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/9mnu9i12aJ

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 30, 2022

Michigan is sitting in the No. 2 spot heading into the Big Ten title game against Purdue. Perhaps things will change, but in the last couple of years, it could be argued that the best three teams in the Big Ten all reside in the East Division. It is the only division with three teams in the top 10 of the CFP rankings. Along with Michigan, Ohio State is fifth and Penn State eighth. None of the teams in the West Division are in the top 25.

Michigan followed up last year’s win over Ohio State by overwhelming Iowa 42-3 in the Big Ten title game. Since the Big Ten went from the  Legends and Leaders divisions to East and West divisions, the East Division champion is 8-0 and six of the wins were by at least 12 points.

It is expected to be more of the same as the Las Vegas odds have priced Michigan as a 17-point favorite. Among this weekend’s FBS title games, only the SEC game tops that number.

Improbable Run Continues for TCU

What an introduction to life as a Big 12 head coach it has been for Sonny Dykes.

Dykes spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Texas Tech and was an offensive analyst at TCU in 2017 after his run as the head coach at California came to an end. After going 25-10 in his final three seasons at Southern Methodist, Dykes got another chance to be a college head coach. All he has done is lead TCU to a 12-0 mark in the regular season.

TCU has endured the most challenging schedule among the teams currently in the top four in the CFP rankings according to the Power Rankings Guru site. Will that be enough to be in the CFP field If Kansas State hands the Horned Frogs their first loss of the season this weekend?

Something to consider for those who bet online: The Big  12 title matchup features two of the best teams in the country against the spread with TCU going 9-2-1 against the college football betting lines and Kansas State 8-3-1.

Win or Go Home

The only blemish for Southern California during the 2022 season was a 43-42 loss to Utah, when the Utes went for a two-point conversion with 48 seconds left even though a successful extra point would have likely sent the game into overtime.

Utah quarterback Cameron Rising not only had two short scoring runs in the fourth quarter, he also added the two-point conversion run to give Utah the win.

Guess who is waiting for USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game? Utah goes after its second straight Pac-12 title. Not only are the Trojans looking for their first Pac-12 title since 2017, but a win on Friday night would almost certainly give the Pac-12 its first team in the playoffs since Washington in 2016.

The game could also seal the deal for quarterback Caleb Williams, who is listed as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy according to the college football odds.

If USC loses, things will get interesting. Ohio State and Alabama are ranked fifth and sixth. Ohio State’s lone loss was not a pretty one while Alabama lost twice by a total of four points to Tennessee and LSU.

A Peek Into the Future

College football fans have loved to engage in “what-if” scenarios since the sport went decades without a playoff system to determine the national champion.

The playoff will be expanding from four to 12 teams. If that was in place this year, there would be much more drama heading into the conference championships.

No. 9 Clemson, No. 10 Kansas State and No. 11 Utah would be playing not only for ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 titles, but also to remain in the CFB field.

Washington holds down the 12th and final spot at the current time while No. 14 LSU has a chance to move up with a win over Georgia or perhaps even a narrow loss. Here’s a look at the games impacting this year’s CFB field.