Conference title weekend is in the books, and the four-team College Football Playoff field is set. However, the selection committee’s decision did not come without a great deal of controversy.
We entered the weekend with a seemingly clear playoff picture, but Alabama threw everything for a loop by upsetting No. 1 Georgia in the SEC championship, ending the Bulldogs’ record 29-game win streak and knocking them out of the CFP field in the process.
With Texas demolishing Oklahoma State in the Big 12, there was one final spot available. Rather than give it to Florida State, which began the weekend in the top four and beat Louisville 16-6 in the ACC championship to move to 13-0, the Crimson Tide jumped FSU based on the strength of the Georgia win.
That snub has been the talk of college football to start this week, but with everyone turning their attention forward to what should be an electric set of semifinals, let’s first look back to reflect on the chaos we witnessed this weekend.
Here are the takeaways from each conference championship game.
Conference USA: No. 24 Liberty 49, New Mexico State 35
Liberty
In a league full of misfits, well-funded and athletics-oriented Liberty seemed poised to take over Conference USA in football. It’s a bit surprising that it happened so quickly, but Jamey Chadwell has this team cooking after a perfect run in his first year in Lynchburg, and it has resulted in a trip to the New Year’s Six against Oregon. The Flames played a weak schedule even by Group of Five standards, so this is a serious test for the program.
New Mexico State
Las Cruces is one of college football’s most far-flung outposts. Scrounging together resources there is hard, and acquiring FBS-level talent has historically been even harder. That’s why Jerry Kill’s two-year coaching job with the Aggies is one of the most underappreciated in the country. It wasn’t long ago that no league wanted this program, and it came very close to winning Conference USA in Year 1. Loss aside, this is far and away New Mexico State’s best season in the modern era and was its first time winning double-digit games since 1960.
Pac-12: No. 3 Washington 34, No. 5 Oregon 31
Washington
Despite an unblemished regular-season record and a head-to-head win over the Ducks in October, the Huskies entered this one as a nearly double-digit underdog after limping a bit down the stretch. They proved those doubters wrong, dispatching Oregon again to complete a 13-0 season and punch its ticket to its second College Football Playoff. Kalen DeBoer is one of the top coaches in the country, and he has a very real chance to bring this program its first national title since 1991.
Oregon
The Ducks had looked unstoppable since a competitive loss to Washington, and many expected them to roll in the rematch. Instead, the offense struggled to get going, and the defense didn’t play well enough to win, particularly against the run. With a victory, Bo Nix likely would have become the clear Heisman favorite with Oregon almost certainly heading to the CFP, but instead, it will have to settle for a New Year’s Six bid where it will look to take out its frustrations on Liberty with Nix choosing not to opt out of what will be his final collegiate game.
Big 12: No. 7 Texas 49, No. 18 Oklahoma State 21
Texas
The Longhorns entered the Big 12 title knowing they may not control their postseason fate, and they played like a team looking to send a message with a methodical beatdown against an Oklahoma State team that clearly wasn’t up to the challenge. Quinn Ewers rewrote the Big 12 record book with a 452-yard, four-touchdown passing performance, and Texas is officially back after clinching its first-ever trip to the CFP.
Oklahoma State
Credit to the Cowboys for turning things around after a brutal start and claiming a conference title game berth. A 9-4 finish is nothing to scoff at when you lost 33-7 at home to South Alabama in September, but a team that has relied so much on the run couldn’t get anything going against Texas’ ferocious defensive front. Oklahoma State’s defense also never stood a chance, allowing a 662-yard day from the Longhorns’ offense.
MAC: Miami (OH) 23, Toledo 14
Miami (Ohio)
There’s quite a list of potential Coach of the Year candidates, but don’t lose track of Chuck Martin in the mix. The Redhawks lost an All-MAC caliber quarterback early in the year in Brett Gabbert, and all they did was proceed to reel off an 11-2 season that culminated in their second MAC title under Martin and first since 2019. This is easily Martin’s best team in Oxford, and it’s also Miami’s first team to win 11+ games since it went 13-1 with Ben Roethlisberger in 2003.
Toledo
The Rockets likely didn’t have a shot at the NY6 regardless, but they missed the chance to win back-to-back MAC titles and complete a perfect run through conference play. This is perennially the league’s most talented program, and it’s hard to believe Jason Candle hasn’t gotten more play in the coaching market. He was reportedly a finalist at Syracuse but now seems likely to return, so you can expect Toledo will once again be among the top teams in the conference in 2024.
Mountain West: Boise State 44, UNLV 20
Boise State
What a strange season it has been for the Broncos. They fired coach Andy Avalos after a 5-5 start, but interim Spencer Danielson won the final three games and, thanks to a BCS-style selection format, Boise was chosen to play for a conference title. After obliterating UNLV, Danielson became the first FBS interim to win a conference championship and was quickly elevated to the full-time position. It’s been a while since this felt like a program that was ahead of the curve in the G5, but Danielson — who has been on staff at Boise since 2017 — will get the chance to bring it back to that level.
UNLV
It’s a disappointing way to end what has been an otherwise magical season in Las Vegas. No one expected this team to be competitive in the Mountain West, but Barry Odom did yeoman’s work in Year 1 with a nine-win season that featured an upset over Vanderbilt. No one has really been able to successfully take advantage of this program’s location and resources, but Odom seems to be on the right track, even with this setback.
SEC: No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 1 Georgia 24
Alabama
How wrong we all were about this team. After a 10-point home loss to Texas and a very sluggish win against South Florida, this team looked dead in the water. But the defense has gone from great to elite, and Jalen Milroe is progressing nicely into an electric playmaker, albeit one who’s a bit rough around the edges. Writing Nick Saban’s epitaph at Alabama was clearly premature, and controversy aside, this team will have the chance to prove it belongs in the playoff against Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
Georgia
It’s still hard for me to believe this Georgia team is missing the postseason, and you’d have a hard time convincing me it isn’t one of the best four teams in the country, but the Bulldogs played a weak non-conference slate, lack impressive wins in SEC play and lost the most important game of the season after Alabama beat them at their own game. Them’s the breaks.
American: SMU 26, Tulane 14
SMU
You could make a very strong and sound argument that Saturday’s win at Tulane was the biggest for the Mustangs since the NCAA sent them into decades of purgatory with its notorious “death penalty” ruling in the 1980s. SMU is a conference champion for the first time since winning the Southwest Conference in 1984, and you could easily make a case this team has a stronger argument to be in the NY6 than Liberty. Regardless, Rhett Lashlee has this program in great shape as it joins an ACC that’s stuck in neutral. Why couldn’t a rich program in the heart of Dallas become immediately competitive?
Tulane
It’s a bummer that Willie Fritz’s magical run at Tulane couldn’t have ended on a higher note. The Green Wave missed out on back-to-back New Year’s Six trips after the loss, and shortly following the game, Fritz was named the head coach at Houston. Still, this two-year run has been the program’s best in the modern era, and now that this big city program with quite a bit of cash has had a taste of success, it will be interesting to see how it moves forward without Fritz.
Sun Belt: Troy 49, Appalachian State 23
Troy
The Trojans had no issues on Saturday as they casually dismantled Appalachian State to win their second Sun Belt title in a row under Jon Sumrall. Troy has an elite defense and one of the nation’s most unheralded running backs in Kimani Vidal, who had 233 yards and five touchdowns in the win Saturday. Sumrall likely would have been a serious candidate at Kentucky if things hadn’t fallen apart between Mark Stoops and Texas A&M, but after he didn’t get much play in the coaching carousel, he’s likely coming back to go for the hat trick.
Appalachian State
The Mountaineers fared about as well as you would have expected given the fact that they only represented the Sun Belt East on a technicality as James Madison was ineligible to win the division. In their defense, they beat the Dukes on the road head-to-head, but they couldn’t muster that similar upset magic against Troy. Shawn Clark did a nice job salvaging the season after a rough start, but 8-5 doesn’t feel like it completely cools off a seat that got a bit warm earlier in the year.
Big Ten: No. 2 Michigan 26, No. 16 Iowa 0
Michigan
The Wolverines were easily the biggest Power Five favorite this weekend, and they showed why in a shutout victory over the Hawkeyes. After it took care of business against Iowa and Georgia lost to Alabama, Michigan will enter the CFP as the top seed, but it certainly isn’t without questions. The offense didn’t do much in this game, particularly quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Blake Corum had two touchdowns, but ran for just 52 yards as well. That’s an elite Iowa defense, but it’s certainly concerning as things don’t get any easier with the Alabama matchup looming.
Iowa
A shutout seemed like a real possibility for the Hawkeyes entering this game, and it ultimately came to pass. Credit to their defense and special teams, without which they would be nowhere near 10-3, but the offense — which was already bad and became worse after a litany of injuries — is nowhere near where it needs to be to win games like this. This was a very Iowa year at Iowa, but it’s worth noting that this team’s relatively easy path to Indianapolis through the Big Ten West is now a thing of the past.
ACC: No. 4 Florida State 16, No. 14 Louisville 6
Florida State
I don’t know what more I can add here that hasn’t already been said, but here goes: It sucks. It sucks for the fans, it sucks for coach Mike Norvell, and it especially sucks for the players. It sucks so much that quarterback Jordan Travis said that he wished he had broken his leg earlier in the season so the team had more time to prove itself without him. Gut-wrenching. Let’s address the elephant in the room (no pun intended): This team is clearly limited without Travis, and it probably wouldn’t have stood much of a chance in the CFP field. That’s my opinion. My opinion was also that Georgia would beat Alabama and that Oregon would beat Washington. Opinions can be wrong, and it’s a shame that this team — which did everything that was asked of it — won’t get the chance to prove that the committee’s was, as well.
Louisville
Even against a Florida State team led by a third-string quarterback that had to revert to what was essentially a wildcat offense at times in this game, Louisville just couldn’t get anything going. There are no doubts about FSU’s defense, and a top-20 Cardinals offense looked downright putrid in this game. It’s been a special Year 1 for Jeff Brohm in his return to Louisville, but this team clearly needs some juice to take the leap from good to great in 2024.
