We enter conference championship week with all five Power Five title games having a potential impact on the College Football Playoff race. A wild coaching search and another high-profile head coach arguably being put on the hot seat after a huge loss headline our recap of the final regular season weekend of 2023. Here’s a look at what it all means.
1. Michigan wins third straight vs. Ohio State
Sherrone Moore is now 3-0 as the Wolverines’ head coach. A 30-24 win over the Buckeyes sends Michigan to the Big Ten championship game to face the Iowa Hawkeyes, and they have the inside track to the College Football Playoff. They might even be in with a loss. Meanwhile Ryan Day has now lost third straight in the series, and there’s a legitimate argument to fire him.
2. Alabama survives, shakes up College Football Playoff race
The Crimson Tide were jockeying to leapfrog the Texas Longhorns and Florida State Seminoles if they won out last week because those teams have looked bad in wins, even though UT beat Bama. Well, Nick Saban’s team needed a miracle touchdown to beat an Auburn Tigers team that lost by three touchdowns to the New Mexico State Aggies last week.
What would we make of this team if it managed to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game? That would be the biggest quality win of quality wins in college football, but at the same time, they have a hideous win over Auburn the week before. That compared to FSU and Texas could make things really complicated.
3. Florida State, Texas complicate things for CFP committee
Speaking of FSU and Texas, both teams won ugly once again. However, Texas beat Bama, and without Jordan Travis, FSU remains undefeated, even if it was an ugly game against the Florida Gators. Everybody knows these two teams aren’t good enough to play for the title, but if they both win, how do you put them behind Alabama?
4. College Football Playoff chaos real
We just mentioned one CFP chaos scenario. The easiest for the committee is for Georgia, Michigan, FSU and the Washington Huskies to all win. However, if Washington loses to the Oregon Ducks, does either team belong over an Ohio State team whose only loss is to Michigan? What if Iowa upsets Michigan? That complicates things further. Simply put, some wild scenarios are possible.
5. Pac-12, SEC have biggest conference title games
If Texas loses to the Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday, no Big 12 team makes the title game. The same is true if FSU falls to the Louisville Cardinals. As we mentioned, Michigan losing to Iowa would generate chaos. However, the SEC and Pac-12 title games involve one team who is in with a win and another who is in with a win and a little help.
6. Rankings show college football will be insane in 2024
Of the top 13 in both polls, only one team, FSU, will not be in the SEC or Big Ten next year. Somehow, though, we’re supposed to believe there should be six automatic bids for conference champions when the College Football Playoff goes to 12 teams next year. The Pac-12 title involves two future Big Ten teams. Something needs to be reformed.
7. Kentucky-Louisville reestablishes SEC dominance over ACC
ACC fans will brag about the league going 6-4 vs. the SEC, but the Clemson Tigers and North Carolina Tar Heels beat the South Carolina Gamecocks, one of the bottom four teams in the league, FSU beat Florida and the LSU Tigers, a No. 1 vs. bottom four and No. 1 vs. No. 5 matchup. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons, a top half team, but the Vanderbilt Commodores, the league’s worst team.
On the other hand, Kentucky is a bottom half team in the SEC and just wrecked the outside shot the Louisville Cardinals have at the College Football Playoff. Louisville is the second best team in the ACC and will play for the championship this weekend against FSU, so make no mistake, the SEC is better, and they showed it.
8. A&M puts college football coaching carousel in overdrive
Saturday night, after the games ended, the Texas A&M Aggies seemed to ink a deal with Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops. A fan revolt that nearly reached the Vols and Greg Schiano level seemed to kill the hire. After that, they stumbled into hiring Mike Elko of the Duke Blue Devils. Make no mistake, this is a homerun hire, the best in years.
Meanwhile, the Mississippi State Bulldogs made a great hire in Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who was actually Josh Heupel’s assistant with the UCF Knights in 2018. The Indiana Hoosiers have fired Tom Allen too, so the college football coaching carousel is heating up, but it’s just the start of the changes to this moment.
9. Heisman race
1. Bo Nix, QB – Oregon
2. Jayden Daniels, QB – LSU
3. Michael Penix Jr., QB – Washington
4. Jalen Milroe, QB – Alabama
5. Jordan Travis, QB – Florida State
10. Top 10
1. Michigan
2. Georgia
3. Florida State
4. Washington
5. Ohio State
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
