The playoff is set, the conferences have been won, and now we wait for the second year of the 12-team format to commence. Let’s take a look at how each team won its conference and talk about the 12 teams that made the cut — and, more importantly, those that didn’t.
The Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Championship game led off an action-packed Saturday of college football from AT&T Stadium in Texas. BYU looked to avenge its only loss of the year—a fairly ugly one against Texas Tech. This was a true win-or-go-home game for the Cougars, and they couldn’t afford another slow start like the one they had back in November in Lubbock.
After forcing a punt on their first defensive possession, the Cougars drove 90 yards in 14 plays, perfectly split 7–7 between run and pass, capped off by an LJ Martin touchdown run to open the scoring and give BYU a 7–0 lead—something they never had in Lubbock. Texas Tech answered with a long drive of its own, but two false start penalties inside the BYU 15 stalled the possession and forced the Red Raiders to settle for three.
BYU now had the opportunity to continue their early momentum. Instead, they went three-and-out after falling behind the sticks immediately. Texas Tech took that defensive boost and rode it into a 33-yard touchdown pass to Coy Eakin. Behren Morton threw a beautiful ball to the front corner of the end zone, where Eakin reeled it in. The confusing part was the officiating: the side judge threw his hat—signaling the receiver had gone out of bounds on his own—then appeared to miss potential contact downfield, and ultimately spotted the ball at the 1-yard line despite Eakin never coming close to stepping out. It looked like Eakin might have gone out of bounds ten yards into his route, but it was unclear whether he was forced out or simply ran out on his own. Regardless, it was a great throw and catch, wrapped in classic Big 12 officiating chaos.
BYU’s offense still couldn’t find traction, holding the ball two more times in the half and managing just one first down each possession. One of those drives featured probably the second-worst fake punt in BYU history: on 4th-and-7, punter Sam Vander Haar rolled out under pressure and attempted a pass into triple coverage. It fell incomplete, and even if it had been caught, it would have been five yards short. The play had no chance from the start.
It didn’t immediately cost BYU—Texas Tech missed a field goal—but the Cougars’ third straight unsuccessful drive allowed Tech to tack on a field goal before halftime, making it 13–7. BYU wasn’t out of it, and they were set to receive the second-half kickoff.
The Cougars seemed to regain their early energy, driving into Texas Tech territory before Will Ferrin hooked a 45-yard field goal. BYU’s defense responded, forcing an incompletion on 4th-and-2 inside the red zone, and handed the ball back still down just one score.
Then the wheels fell off.
Three plays into the next drive, linebacker Ben Roberts batted a pass into the air and intercepted it. Texas Tech scored on the next play. After two punts one, by both teams, the Cougars had the ball again. On their second play, a slow-developing play-action pass left Bear Bachmeier exposed, and he was hit from behind, losing the football. BYU held Tech to a field goal, but on the very next snap, Bachmeier threw another interception—again to Roberts, this time on a one-handed grab over the middle. Texas Tech touchdown. And on BYU’s next play from scrimmage, LJ Martin took a check-down pass, found a crease, and then fumbled the ball right back. Another Tech field goal followed.
In the blink of an eye, BYU went from trailing by six to trailing by 27. Ball game.
Texas Tech caps off arguably the best season in program history and secures a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff by winning its first Big 12 title.
The South Eastern Conference
Georgia looked to do what BYU couldn’t earlier that morning: avenge a regular-season loss. The stakes were even higher for the Bulldogs, as head coach Kirby Smart entered the game 1–7 against Alabama and had never beaten the Crimson Tide in an SEC Championship Game. Making matters worse, Alabama hadn’t lost a game in the city of Atlanta since the 2008 SEC Championship.
None of that seemed to matter—or it may have even fueled the Dawgs—as they came out firing. A blocked punt set up a short field, and Georgia capitalized on third and goal to take a 7–0 lead. An ill-advised Ty Simpson throw over the middle led to a Georgia interception and another short field, which the Bulldogs again cashed in on. Just like that: 14–0 Georgia.
From that point until the end of the third quarter, Alabama gained only 27 total yards. Georgia added another touchdown on its first drive of the second half, and as the game entered the fourth quarter, the entire country was watching Georgia throttle Alabama on every level. The Crimson Tide salvaged a little dignity with a touchdown drive to open the fourth, but their next possession ended quickly with a four-and-out, giving Georgia another short-field opportunity that they turned into points.
Georgia dominated in all phases, while Alabama looked lost and nowhere near the level many believed they were. The Tide finished with just 209 total yards and minus-3 rushing yards. Their longest run of the game was five yards, and it was their lowest rushing output since the 1968 Gator Bowl. Georgia didn’t exactly put on an offensive clinic, but they were steady and competent—something Alabama never managed.
Georgia wins the SEC for the second straight year and earns a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff for the second straight season. Now the Bulldogs look to learn from last year’s early exit and avoid another one-and-done.
The Big 10 Conference
The Big Ten championship game saw the only two remaining undefeated teams in the country square off. Indiana looked to avenge their only regular-season loss from last year and prove that this season wasn't a fluke—that they really are better than they were a year ago. Ohio State aimed to win the Big Ten for the first time since the shortened 2020 season.
A classic ground-and-pound Big Ten matchup featured each team scoring its first points off bad interceptions thrown by both quarterbacks. First, Julian Sayin gave the ball to the Hoosiers on the plus side of the field, resulting in a field goal and a 3–0 Indiana lead. A Fernando Mendoza interception deep in Indiana territory gifted Ohio State a touchdown and a 7–3 advantage. A missed 39-yard field goal by Indiana, followed by a made Buckeye field goal, extended the lead to 10–3. Indiana put together a 61-yard drive before halftime to add three more points. Ohio State led 10–6 at the break.
The real ground-and-pound began in the second half, as each team possessed the ball only three more times. After an Ohio State punt, Indiana unleashed a 7-play, 88-yard drive capped by an Elijah Sarratt touchdown to take a 13–10 lead. Ohio State responded with a nearly seven-minute march down the field and found itself in a 4th-and-1 situation at the Indiana 5-yard line. Wanting to take the lead, Ryan Day went for it, but Julian Sayin’s sneak—initially ruled a first down—was overturned on review, clearly short.
Indiana drained another six minutes before punting, and Ohio State embarked on another long drive, this one consuming eight minutes and covering 81 yards on 15 plays. Faced with an almost identical scenario, Day elected to kick a field goal from the 9-yard line. With only 2:48 left, there was no guarantee of getting another chance if they didn’t convert. The problem: senior kicker Jayden Fielding—13-for-13 on field goals inside 30 yards in his career—pulled it wide left.
At that point, the ending was nearly sealed. Indiana later punted with 18 seconds remaining, and with no timeouts, Ohio State needed a miracle—one they didn’t get. Indiana was crowned Big Ten champions.
The win secured the No. 1 seed for the Hoosiers. It’s not all bad for Ohio State, as they dropped only to No. 2 and still received a first-round bye. This marks Indiana’s first conference title since 1967.
The Atlantic Coast Conference
The ACC had the most chaos entering championship weekend. Virginia had a chance to make the playoff for the first time, while Duke was looking to play spoiler and earn its first conference title in 36 years. A sloppy first half from both teams left the Blue Devils up 14–7 at the break. In the history of the ACC Championship Game, teams leading at halftime were 16–0 prior to this matchup. Duke hoped to make it 17–0.
The third quarter brought a field goal for each team, and in the fourth quarter—despite forcing two takeaways—Duke couldn’t deliver the knockout punch and instead settled for yet another field goal. That left Virginia with a chance to tie the game. The Cavaliers still had to go 96 yards in under ninety seconds just to stay alive, and that’s exactly what they did. An 18-yard touchdown pass to Eli Wood capped the drive, and the PAT sent the game to overtime.
Duke lost the coin toss and received the ball to start the overtime period. After a seven-play drive, the Blue Devils took a gamble on fourth-and-goal from the one—and it paid off, giving them a 27–20 lead. Virginia had its chance to respond and dialed up some trickery on the first play of its possession. But the double pass was intercepted, sealing the win for Duke.
Duke is the ACC champion—despite finishing the regular season with five losses and never even sniffing the CFP Top 25.
Group of 5 Conferences
American — Friday night, Tulane used a strong second quarter to take a commanding lead over North Texas that they never relinquished. A pick-six in the third quarter all but sealed it for the Green Wave as they punched their ticket to the CFP. This will be Tulane’s first appearance in the CFP and only the second time the American has been represented.
Mountain West — Boise State dominated UNLV for the second time this year late on Friday night. The Broncos went up 14–0 to start the game and never looked back. This is their third conference title in a row, and looking back, it seems like losses to Fresno State and San Diego State will keep them from a second straight playoff bid.
Sun Belt — James Madison didn’t look as dominant in their Sun Belt title game, but a win is a win. They shut Troy out in the second half and scored 14 unanswered to win by 17. It ultimately didn’t matter, as Duke’s win Saturday night cleared the path for James Madison to make the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Conference USA — Kennesaw State got its revenge for its regular-season loss to Jacksonville State. The Owls used a 75-yard drive in the final minutes to retake the lead and win their first Conference USA title in just their second year in the league.
MAC — Western Michigan also avenged its loss to Miami (Ohio), jumping out to a 23–6 lead at Ford Field. This is the Broncos’ first conference title since their 13–0 season back in 2016.
The College Football Playoff
This means that the first-round matchups are James Madison @ Oregon, Tulane @ Ole Miss, Miami @ Texas A&M, and Alabama @ Oklahoma.
I would say that my overall sentiment is that the committee’s decisions are okay. Just okay—not bad, but not good. I say this because of the wild inconsistencies the committee continues to bring to the table. Every team that has ever lost its conference championship game has dropped in the rankings, even when the games were close or went to overtime. Yet Alabama gets blown out and looks like a high school JV team on offense, and they barely drop. I believe the correct decision would have been to leave Alabama out of the playoff and have both Notre Dame and Miami make it instead.
I think Notre Dame has every right to be frustrated with the situation they find themselves in. How can the committee be so open for seven weeks about head-to-head not mattering between Miami and Notre Dame, only to change their minds in the final week when both teams were idle? I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the ACC champion wasn’t going to make the CFP.
I agree with the sentiment that a team shouldn’t be punished for playing in a conference championship game, but Alabama got killed, and to not move them even one spot makes no sense. Especially when moving them would have set up a matchup with Texas A&M—now we just get another game against Oklahoma. And please don’t pretend they don’t rank teams based on matchups. They definitely do. You can’t tell me otherwise.
I think putting Tulane and James Madison in was the correct call, and even as a BYU fan, after what happened Saturday morning, I don’t think they deserved to be in the playoff over any of the selected teams. That opinion might change depending on how far Texas Tech goes in the playoff. But hey—it gives me the claim that BYU could be the second-best team in the country if Texas Tech wins it all.
CFB News
The coaching carousel is still in full swing.
The week started with a bang with the whole Kalani Sitake–to–Penn State rumor mill. One of the most chaotic days in recent coaching-hire memory ended with Sitake staying at BYU and Penn State finding themselves even deeper in trouble.
That trouble didn’t last long, as they hired Matt Campbell from Iowa State to be their new head coach. Less than two hours later, Iowa State announced they had hired Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers. Yay! Three coaches in three years for Wazzu—just what they needed during conference realignment.
Elsewhere, Collin Klein was hired as the next Kansas State head coach, and Josh Lupoi was named the next Cal coach. If one coordinator from Oregon left, the other one might as well leave too—Will Stein took the Kentucky job after long-time coach Mark Stoops was fired. Pat Fitzgerald was hired to be the new Michigan State coach. Apparently three years is the statute of limitations for allowing sexual assault.
James Madison’s head coach Bob Chesney will continue coaching the Dukes for the rest of the year, but he’ll head to UCLA afterward. Sun Belt coach Billy Napier will take over at James Madison as he looks to revive his career.
Teams Turn Down Bowl Games
Notre Dame was so upset about missing the playoff that they turned down the chance to play BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Instead, they’ll stay home and sulk about being left out. Iowa State and Kansas State also declined bowl invitations, saying that with their recent coaching changes they aren’t in a position to play.
Because of this, a number of 5–7 teams were invited to participate in bowl games to fill the vacancies. Seven of those teams also declined to participate. This newfound attitude toward non-CFP postseason games seems to be growing, and it raises the question: at what point does the playoff expand again and eliminate the rest of the bowl games?
I’d love to hear from readers, too. Think my takes are dumb? Want my opinion on something I missed? Email me at thecollegefootblog@gmail.com.
