We went into Championship Week with a fairly clear picture of what the College Football Playoff’s four-team field would look like, assuming the higher-ranked teams all won.
Unfortunately for those hoping for a CFP selection free from controversy, TCU and USC each lost their conference title games, and while the latter ultimately missed the playoff, the former made it in spite of the loss to Kansas State, which was its first of the season.
Thanks to USC’s loss, Ohio State snuck in at the No. 4 spot despite being idle. Meanwhile, the upper half of the field was much less intriguing than the rest of the discussion as Georgia and Michigan each rolled to comfortable wins, remaining undefeated.
With the regular season in the books and the bowl field set, here are the takeaways from every conference title game heading into the postseason and beyond.
Conference USA: UTSA 48, North Texas 27
UTSA
The Roadrunners controlled this one most of the way as quarterback Frank Harris had a masterful game, throwing for 341 yards and four touchdowns. That’s now back-to-back conference titles for coach Jeff Traylor, who spurned Power Five suitors last offseason to remain in San Antonio. He has a chance to match last season’s 12 wins in the bowl game, and this team enters the American next year poised to compete immediately.
North Texas
After a 2-3 start, it looked like the Mean Green were going to dismiss seventh-year coach Seth Littrell. However, the staff righted the ship and guided the team to a 7-5 finish before Saturday’s loss. A championship appearance wasn’t enough, apparently, as Littrell was shown the door on Sunday after a 44-44 tenure. This is seen as an up-and-coming Group of Five job that should draw plenty of interest, though it’s getting in the game slightly late.
Pac-12: No. 11 Utah 47, No. 4 USC 24
Utah
Coach Kyle Whittingham won his second-straight conference title, quite a feat for a program that has been very consistent since entering the league. Losses to Florida and UCLA kept this team from playoff contention, but it was very consistent and beat the Trojans twice this season. That’s back-to-back 10-win seasons for Whittingham, who gets a second shot at a Rose Bowl after falling just short last year.
USC
The Trojans came so close to making a playoff run in the first year under Lincoln Riley, but Utah had their number. This team has a lot of problems on defense but has masked them with a wild proclivity for forcing turnovers. It lost the turnover battle on Friday night, and that was that. Quarterback Caleb Williams played well, aside from an ugly interception late that all but sealed the game, and this shouldn’t remove him from Heisman consideration.
Big 12: No. 10 Kansas State 31, No. 3 TCU 28
Kansas State
This has been an impressive team all season for fourth-year coach Chris Klieman, who reaches the 10-win threshold for the first time in Manhattan with Saturday’s win, which avenged a loss earlier this season. The Wildcats have weathered a string of injuries, including to quarterback Adrian Martinez, but Will Howard hasn’t missed a beat leading this team in Martinez’s stead. KSU now heads to the Sugar Bowl where it gets a shot at an Alabama team that could be without some of its top players. Taking a wider look, this program looks poised to compete in the new Big 12.
TCU
Even in a losing effort, quarterback Max Duggan delivered one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen from a quarterback despite being clearly gassed, potentially injured and bleeding from his arm. Duggan left it all out on the field, and though it wasn’t enough to win the conference, it should be enough to get him some Heisman consideration if USC’s loss took too much shine off Williams’ resume. The committee got it right and put the Horned Frogs in the CFP at No. 3 anyway. This team had by far the best resume of any team with a loss, and it will get a shot at Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl for its first-ever playoff appearance.
MAC: Toledo 17, Ohio 7
Toledo
There’s no conference in college football with more parity than the MAC, so it’s somewhat understandable that the Rockets’ conference title in 2022 was just the second under coach Jason Candle despite recruiting at an elite level relative to the rest of the league throughout his seven-year tenure. Toledo beat a red-hot Ohio team that had won its previous seven contests, and that has to feel good.
Ohio
Saturday’s result was disappointing, but it was still an overall successful campaign for Tim Albin, who has led one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football. He took over in July 2021 after the sudden retirement of longtime coach Frank Solich, and in a difficult situation, the Bobcats fell to 3-9. Even with the loss, they’re 9-4 this year, have the MAC Player of the Year in quarterback Kurtis Roarke and proved they can still be the class of the conference under Albin, who could’ve found himself on the hot seat with another bad season but now looks like one of the safest coaches in the conference.
Sun Belt: Troy 45, Coastal Carolina 26
Troy
It’s probably not going to happen, but first-year coach Jon Sumrall deserves Coach of the Year consideration. Taking over a team that went 5-7 a year ago, the 40-year-old former Kentucky assistant went 11-2 in Year 1 with the losses coming on the road against Ole Miss and Appalachian State, the latter needing a hail mary to avoid a loss. The Sun Belt is as competitive as any G5 league, and winning it in Year 1 is an accomplishment worth noting. Expect Sumrall to draw interest from more than one SEC program over the next few seasons.
Coastal Carolina
In fairness to the Chanticleers, they performed about as well as you could expect in this game. They were only in it in the first place because the James Madison team that throttled them by 40 points the week prior was not eligible as part of its transition to the FBS. The Chants also had a coach with one foot out the door in Jamey Chadwell, who was rumored to be a strong candidate at Liberty and formally accepted the job shortly after this game. CCU will also lose longtime quarterback Grayson McCall after this season, and with new coach Tim Beck — a seasoned offensive coordinator but first-time head coach — coming in from NC State, this certainly feels like a changing of the guard at Coastal.
SEC: No. 1 Georgia 50, No. 14 LSU 30
Georgia
There’s really not much to say about UGA in this one. They entered as a three-score favorite, and they rolled to a 20-point win in which the offense — and Stetson Bennett, specifically — looked stellar against an LSU unit that has been mostly strong all season. If I wanted to create more intrigue around what will likely be a throttling of Ohio State in the Peach Bowl semifinal, I would point out the fact that the Bulldogs looked a bit vulnerable in the second half against gunslinger quarterback Garrett Nussmeier ahead of a tougher matchup against CJ Stroud. But I have too much respect for you to lie like that.
LSU
Given the fact that LSU seemingly forgot that a ball is live after a blocked field goal, threw one of the most ridiculous interceptions I’ve ever seen, had no answer defensively for Georgia and had to turn to a backup quarterback after Jayden Daniels aggravated an ankle injury suffered the week before, I’d say this one honestly could have been a lot worse. Nussmeier made some fantastic plays (which will likely serve to bolster his transfer portal resume), and though most of the Tigers’ scoring came in garbage time, this wasn’t the absolute beatdown it looked to be heading toward in the first half. If the Tigers can beat Purdue in the Citrus Bowl, it would be hard to scoff at a 10-win season in Year 1 for Brian Kelly.
American: No. 18 Tulane 45, No. 22 UCF 28
Tulane
The Green Wave capped off one of the greatest seasons in program history with an avenging of its previous loss to the Knights in the AAC title game. Tulane wins the American for the first time since joining the conference, and it’s the program’s first conference title, in general, since 1998. It’s also just the fourth time in program history the team has finished with double-digit wins. At 11-2, Tulane faces USC in the Cotton Bowl and will likely return coach Willie Fritz, who was publically considered to be a candidate at Georgia Tech.
UCF
It must be frustrating that even in a year where the Knights beat Cincinnati and Tulane in the regular season, it will miss out on the New Year’s Six by virtue of losses to Louisville, East Carolina and Navy, in addition to the Green Wave in the rematch. It’s a disappointing end to what was still a solid campaign for coach Gus Malzahn, who continues to make Auburn look pretty foolish for choosing to go in a different direction.
Mountain West: Fresno State 28, Boise State 16
Fresno State
What an impressive turnaround for the Bulldogs, who are in the first year of their second stint under coach Jeff Tedford. Fresno began the season 1-4 before reeling off eight straight wins, most recently beating conference juggernaut Boise on its home field to win the Mountain West for the first time since 2018. Quarterback Jake Haener initially planned to follow former coach Kalen DeBoer to Washington, but Bulldogs fans sure are glad that he didn’t.
Boise State
It was a weird season for the Broncos. After a 2-2 start, there were rumblings about second-year coach Andy Avalos finding himself on the hot seat. There was ultimately a staff shakeup that included a change at offensive coordinator, and Boise was able to right the ship. However, losing this one at home is certainly disappointing for a program that has become accustomed to very high standards over the last two decades.
Big Ten: No. 2 Michigan 43, Purdue 22
Michigan
It wasn’t exactly a perfect performance, and this was only a one-point game at halftime. But Michigan’s talent ultimately allowed it to pull away in the second half, and it will enter the CFP as the No. 2 seed, facing TCU in the semifinal. Winning back-to-back Big Tens is a massive accomplishment for coach Jim Harbaugh, and given how much more dynamic the offense is this time around with JJ McCarthy, there’s reason to think this team could be poised to avenge an ugly loss to Georgia in the playoffs last year. Despite renewed NFL rumors, Harbaugh said he’s sticking around in Ann Arbor, where he seems to have ended Ohio State’s hegemony in the conference.
Purdue
It’s going to sound like I’m giving the Boilermakers a patronizing pat on the back, but they really did acquit themselves fairly well in a game where they were simply overmatched. A Citrus Bowl matchup against LSU feels a lot more even, and Purdue will almost certainly be motivated for what will be its first appearance in the game since 2004. Jeff Brohm has built this program into a consistent one, but with Brohm’s alma mater in Louisville opening Monday, the Boilermakers may have to stave off a poaching attempt (A.K.A. open up the checkbook) to keep him in West Lafayette.
ACC: No. 9 Clemson 39, No. 23 North Carolina 10
Clemson
It’s officially Cade Klubnik time for the Tigers. The five-star true freshman quarterback played most of this game, finishing 20 of 24 for 279 yards and two total touchdowns. It was certainly an impressive performance, though it should be noted that it came against a North Carolina defense that ranks near the bottom of the entire FBS. Still, it was enough for DJ Uiagalelei to enter the transfer portal, seemingly clearing the way for Klubnik to start in 2023. And yet, Dabo Swinney will face some questions for not turning to Klubnik sooner — such as when Clemson still had a shot at the playoff.
North Carolina
In hindsight, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Klubnik would have his statement game against a Tar Heels defense that has been porous all season. Still, that didn’t necessarily have to doom them in this game. Quarterback Drake Maye led one of the best offenses in college football for most of the year, but the group has struggled in what have been three straight losses. At 9-4, this is the best season in the four-year Mack Brown era so far, and it still feels like this program is underachieving under the 71-year-old. Given the way this season has ended, I’m not sure the Tar Heels can afford to run it back with zero changes.
