For the 15th consecutive season, I will be publishing weekly columns late in the season which analyze all of  the FBS conference championship races. Like my bowl bubble watch, there is not really a column like this on any other mainstream college football site.  Bolded teams have already clinched their division or conference. Italicized teams are my predicted champions of their respective conferences/divisions at this point in time.  This list is updated through all games played on November 23, 2024.

ACC– SMU/Miami-FL (This conference title race has gotten really simple.  SMU has clinched one spot in the ACC title game, and if Miami can beat Syracuse on the road next weekend, then they will earn the second spot in Charlotte.  If the Canes do lose their finale up north, then the second spot will go to Clemson).  

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Big 12– Arizona State/Iowa State (Just when we thought this conference title race couldn’t get any wilder, the two teams tied for first place, BYU and Colorado, both lost on Saturday to create a four-way tie at the top of the league standings entering the final weekend.  Yes, that is right, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, and Iowa State all stand at 6-2 with one final conference game each to play.  For that final game, Colorado plays Oklahoma State at noon on Friday, Arizona State plays at Arizona at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon, Iowa State hosts Kansas State at 7:30 on Saturday night, and BYU hosts Houston at 10:15 PM Saturday late night.  First and foremost, if all four teams win next week, which they all should since they all will be favored, then Iowa State and Arizona State will meet for the Big 12 championship.  If either ISU or ASU lose, then BYU would get a title game spot assuming the Cougars beat Houston.  Colorado is also still in the mix as they would need to beat OK State and then have two of the three to lose between Iowa State, Arizona State, and BYU to earn a title game bid.  Now, if three of the top four  teams end up losing, then you will have total chaos as there are currently five teams tied for fifth place a game back of the four leaders, and each of those squads would then be back in the mix.  In fact, if all four league leaders lose next weekend, we could have an eight-way tie for first place in the Big 12 standings at the end of the season!)  

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Big Ten– Oregon/Ohio State (With the Big Ten announcing earlier in the week that the Ducks of Oregon had clinched one of the two conference title game berths, Indiana and Ohio State played in what was essentially a de facto conference semifinal game on Saturday.  Ohio State won that one which means all they will need to do is knock off lowly Michigan at home next Saturday to clinch the second bid to the Big Ten title game.  If the Buckeyes do somehow lose to the Wolverines for the third straight season, then Penn State will play in the Big Ten title game assuming they knock off Maryland next Saturday afternoon.  Indiana is also still in the mix but they will need to beat Purdue and then have both Ohio State and Penn State lose.)  

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SEC– Georgia/Texas (Ironically enough, the SEC title game picture was greatly simplified by all of the craziness from this weekend’s slate of games.  Now, Georgia has officially clinched one title game spot and the other spot will be given to the winner of the Texas/Texas A & M game next Saturday night.)

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American– Tulane/Army (The Green Wave (7-0) will play the Black Knights (7-0) on Friday December 6th.  The location of that game is still to be determined.  If both teams end up tied at either 8-0 or 7-1, then whoever is ranked higher in the CFP will be the tiebreaker between the two teams.)    

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Conference USA– Jacksonville State/Western Kentucky (As a result of their win over Sam Houston on Saturday, the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State have clinched the first bid to the C-USA title game.  Then, when Liberty beat Western Kentucky a couple of hours later, the Gamecocks clinched home field advantage for that conference title game.  Behind them, there is a three-way tie for the second spot in the championship between Sam Houston, Liberty, and Western Kentucky who all sit at 5-2 entering the final weekend of the season.  Liberty is the only one who controls their own destiny, as they can clinch with a win at Sam Houston.  Western Kentucky needs to beat Jacksonville State at home and have Liberty lose to Sam Houston.  Sam Houston meanwhile needs to knock off Liberty and have Western Kentucky lose to Jacksonville State.  I am predicting the second of those three scenarios to happen next week, as I think the Bearkats beat the Flames at home and then WKU holds off Jacksonville State, who will lack motivation and possibly be resting players in anticipation of their conference championship the following week.)

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MAC– Bowling Green/Ohio  (This past week’s game has whittled this wide open race to a battle between four teams: Miami-Ohio, Ohio, Bowling Green, and Buffalo.  The first three teams mentioned are tied for first place with 6-1 records, and the Bulls of Buffalo are a game behind at 5-2.  Miami plays at Bowling Green next Friday at noon in which will essentially serve as a MAC title semifinal game.  Meanwhile, as long as Ohio can knock off lowly Ball State at the same time on Friday, then they will claim the second bid to the MAC title game.  If the Bobcats somehow lose to the Cardinals, then we will likely have a wild three way tiebreaker scenario between Buffalo, Ohio, and the loser of the Miami-OH and Bowling Green game. )  

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Mountain West– Boise State/UNLV  (In the MWC title race, the Boise State Broncos locked up the first championship game berth with a nail biting win in Laramie on Saturday night.  The Broncos will also get to host the Mountain West title game on the smurf turf when it is played on December 7th.  The second bid will come down between UNLV and Colorado State with UNLV being the team in control of their own destiny.  If they can knock off rival Nevada next Saturday night, they will earn the second bid.  If they lose and CSU beats Utah State on Friday afternoon, then the Rams will travel to Boise for the title game.  If both the Rams and Rebels lose, then UNLV will clinch the second title game berth.)  

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Sun Belt East– Georgia Southern (This division title race comes down to a battle between Marshall and Georgia Southern, as the Thundering Herd hold a one game lead over the Eagles entering the final weekend of the season.  If Marshall can win at James Madison on Saturday night, they will clinch the division crown, but I am predicting them to lose that one, which will send the GSU Eagles to the conference championship, as long as they can knock off App at home earlier that same evening.  If both the Head and Eagles lose, then Marshall takes the division crown.)

Sun Belt West– UL-Lafayette (The Ragin’ Cajuns (6-1) are in the driver’s seat of this division, as they are a game ahead of both Arkansas State and South Alabama, and just need to knock off rival UL-Monroe next Saturday afternoon to clinch the Sun Belt West title.  If Louisiana somehow drops that game to the Warhawks of Monroe, then South Alabama would emerge as the division champ as long as they take care of business against Texas State next Friday.  If both the Ragin’ Cajuns and Jaguars lose, then Louisiana would claim the division title.)

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In addition to my usual analysis above of every conference/division title race, I am going to rank each race based on the intrigue each provides and the importance each holds in the overall college football landscape.  Here are my current rankings of all 10 of the division/conference championship races:

1. Big 12 (between BYU, Colorado, Iowa State, Arizona State, Baylor, Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech, and West Virginia)
2. SEC (one bid clinched by Georgia; the other bid is between Texas and Texas A & M)
3. ACC (one bid clinched by SMU; the other bid is between Miami-FL and Clemson)
4. Big Ten (one bid clinched by Oregon; the other bid is between Ohio State, Penn State, and Indiana)
5. MAC (between Miami-OH, Ohio, Bowling Green, and Buffalo)
6. Conference USA (one bid clinched by Jacksonville State; the other bid is between Western Kentucky, Sam Houston, and Liberty)
7. Mountain West (one bid clinched by Boise State; the other bid is between Colorado State, and UNLV)
8. Sun Belt East (between Georgia Southern and Marshall)
9. Sun Belt West (between UL-Lafayette and South Alabama)
10. American (bids clinched by Army and Tulane)