It’s the final true weekend of the college football season with Saturday delivering the conference championship games that will determine the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowl games.
The action starts at 12:00 PM ET with the Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship Game. After that wraps up, with Texas potentially winning the Big Ten one final time, it’s 4:00 PM ET kickoffs for the Georgia Bulldogs vs Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game and SMU vs Tulane in the AAC title game.
Finally, Saturday’s conference championship games schedule closes out with the Michigan Wolverines vs Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship and Louisville vs Florida State in a crucial ACC Championship Game.
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Let’s dive into our bold predictions for Saturday’s Conference Championship games.
Texas Longhorns shut down Ollie Gordon, dominate Big 12 Championship Game
Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Ollie Gordon II has been one of the best players in college football since the start of September. He started the year as a non-factor, receiving just 19 total touches in his first three games. He became the centerpiece of the Cowboys’ offense with 1,698 scrimmage yards in nine games
Outside of the loss to Central Florida (52 scrimmage yards on 14 touches), Gordon has eclipsed 125-plus scrimmage yards in every start this season and he has three games with 200-plus scrimmage yards. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that success likely ends on Saturday.
The Texas Longhorns allow the third-fewest rushing yards per game (85.3) among Power 5 schools, including averages of just 69 rushing yards allowed per contest in the last three weeks. With a ton of big bodies up front, Texas is holding its opponents to just 2.9 yards per carry and 5.3 rushing first downs per game. If the Longhorns take away the one thing Oklahoma State does well, it’ll be a Big 12 Championship Game blowout.
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Tulane rides Green Wave to consecutive AAC titles
Willie Fritz and Michael Pratt are two of the most important figures in the history of Tulane’s football program. On Saturday afternoon in the American Athletic Championship Game, the head coach and quarterback will have an opportunity to do something never done before in program history.
With a victory on Saturday over the SMU Mustangs, Tulane will win consecutive conference titles for the first time since it finished atop the Southern Conference in 1930-’31. Not only that, but the Green Wave will have consecutive 12-win seasons for the first time in program history.
We’d have picked SMU to pull off the upset, but circumstances changed last week. Mustangs’ quarterback Preston Tone broke his leg in the victory over Navy, meaning Kevin Jennings is forced into relief. Against a Tulane defense that has allowed the 19th-fewest points per game (19.4), we’ll take Pratt, Fritz and Makhi Hughes to carry the Green Wave to a 31-21 victory.
Carson Beck leads Georgia Bulldogs over Alabam in an all-time classic SEC final
Heisman Trophy contenders like Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Jayden Daniels have generated a majority of the attention this season. While it’s not unusual for a Georgia Bulldogs quarterback to be flying under the radar, Carson Beck seems to be receiving even less national attention than Stetson Bennett did a year ago.
- Carson Beck stats 2023: 3,495 passing yards, 22-8 TD-INT, 85.4 ESPN QBR. 72.4 percent completion rate, 168.2 QB rating
Beck is an excellent quarterback. In fact, he’s completed 72.4 percent of his passes with a 179.5 quarterback rating and a 7-1 TD-INT ratio this season against ranked opponents. In November, Beck threw for over 1,000 yards with a 173.1 QB rating. Now, he takes on a typically stout Alabama Crimson Tide defense.
We know Jalen Milroe has the talent to go shot-for-shot with Georgia’s offense. In November, Milroe completed 69.4 percent of his passes with a 187.9 QB rating, compiling 909 yards through the air, 297 on the ground and scoring 15 total touchdowns. Ultimately, we expect Beck to make just a few more plays in the fourth quarter as he leads Georgia to a 35-31 win in the SEC Championship Game.
Michigan Wolverines shut out the Iowa Hawkeyes in Big Ten title game
The Iowa Hawkeyes have one of the worst offenses in college football. At the end of the regular season, Iowa ranked 130th in offensive touchdowns per game (1.7) and 132nd in yards per play (4.0). Just as alarming, the Hawkeyes’ offense finished 119th in third-down conversion rate (31.03 percent), 109th in red-zone scoring attempts per game (2.8) and 128th in punts per offensive score (2.0).
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On the other side of the field is the best defense in college football. The Michigan Wolverines enter the Big Ten Championship Game holding opponents to 10.3 points per game (1st in FBS), 4.3 yards per play (4th in FBS) and the Wolverines allow opponents to average a 31.17 percent third-down conversion rate. Michigan should win this easily, in what we’re projecting to be a 17-0 final.
Louisville upsets Florida State in ACC Championship Game
The Florida State Seminoles survived the Jordan Travis injury against in-state rival Florida. Now, the Seminoles are one win away from booking a trip to the College Football Playoff Semifinal. Of course, the Louisville Cardinals stand in front of them in the ACC Championship Game.
Without Travis, Florida State will run the ball roughly half the time. It’ll be tough to do that against a Louisville defense that has allowed just 97 rushing yards per game this season, with opponents averaging just 3.3 yards per carry.
If the Seminoles had Travis, we easily pick Florida State to come out of this with a victory. However, the downgrade at quarterback and some of Louisville’s defensive strengths make for a better matchup. There’s plenty at stake for both teams, but we’ll bet on Jamari Trash and Jahwar Jordan making a few big plays on a game-winning drive to take it home in the closing minutes. Louisville wins 27-24.