Conference championship games ranked: What are the Playoff implications?

Conference championship games, by design, should deliver some high-voltage matchups, especially with most leagues having moved away from the divisional format.

That looks to be the case this weekend, with nine games and no spread larger than 5.5 points.

But looming over many of these contests is the first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, including some unknowns on how the championship outcomes will impact Sundays final rankings.

Advertisement For that reason, were ordering this weekends title games based on their Playoff implications.

We wish the selection committee well in its future endeavors.

(All point spreads come from BetMGM; click here for live odds.

All kickoff times are Eastern and on Saturday unless otherwise noted.) 9.

Conference USA A rematch of last Saturday, when WKU drilled a 50-yard field goal to defeat Jacksonville State and clinch a spot in the title game.

Now the teams head to Jacksonville, Ala., to run it back, though Jax State might be without star quarterback Tyler Huff , who left the loss to WKU with an ankle injury and did not return.

Huff has thrown for 2,003 yards and rushed for 1,176 and is the key to a Jax State ground attack that ranks third in the FBS at 257.4 yards per game.

There are no CFP stakes in this one, but Jax State is in the conference title game in just its second season of FBS play and first year of eligibility.

WKU, on the other hand, is looking for its first CUSA crown since 2016, when Jeff Brohm was at the helm.

Line: Jacksonville State -5.5 8.

Sun Belt Of the nine FBS conferences hosting a championship game this season (sorry, Pac-2), the Sun Belt is the only league that still has divisions.

The Ragin Cajuns have already cemented their fourth season with at least 10 wins in program history and the first since Billy Napier departed and Michael Desormeaux took over.

This is Louisianas fifth time earning a spot in the seven-year history of the Sun Belt Championship Game, which the program won in 2021.

Marshall knocked off James Madison on the road in double overtime to win the east division and clinch its first trip to the Sun Belt title game since joining the conference in 2022.

Advertisement Line: Louisiana -5.5 7.

MAC Forget the Playoff: This is the 101st Battle of the Bricks, and the first ever for a MAC championship between the former east division foes.

The series between Ohios two oldest universities stretches back to 1908 and has been played every year since 1945, save for a COVID-19 cancellation in 2020, with Miami holding a 56-42-2 all-time edge.

The RedHawks , who beat the Bobcats 30-20 on Oct.

19, won the MAC championship in 2023, their fourth since 2003 and second under head coach Chuck Martin.

Ohio reaches its second MAC title bout in the past three seasons under Tim Albin and fifth since 2006.

The Bobcats claim five MAC crowns dating back to the 1950s and 60s, but the program is 0-5 in conference championship games since the MAC began holding one in 1997.

Line: Miami OH -2 6.

AAC Any hopes the American had of stealing a Playoff bid evaporated with Tulanes loss to Memphis on Thanksgiving.

Still, its been an impressive and encouraging year for both programs.

Army and head coach Jeff Monken have a shot to win the AAC in the Black Knights inaugural season in the conference, plus a chance to match (and surpass) the single-season record of 11 wins with the Army- Navy game and a bowl still to come.

For Tulane, first-year head coach Jon Sumrall has picked up where Willie Fritz left off, leading the Green Wave to their third straight AAC Championship Game.

Tulane won the title in 2022.

Army which before this season competed as an independent, save for a seven-year run in CUSA from 1998-2004 will host the programs first-ever appearance in a conference title game.

Line: Tulane -4.5 5.

SEC This ranking is not a slight or contrarian zag against the almighty SEC.

It could very well end up being the most entertaining game of the weekend.

But the CFP implications arent as significant compared with some of the others, and its a rematch of a game we saw seven weeks ago.

The winner gets a first-round bye, and the loser is almost certain to host a first-round game.

If Texas wins the SEC as a newbie is a fun subplot, but the Playoff ripple effect should be minimal.

Advertisement What we could learn is which of these teams is most primed to go on a run to a national championship.

Can Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers put together a complete and stellar performance against a quality opponent? Can Georgias defense rediscover the level it played at against the Longhorns in October? And if the current 12-team bracket holds, this will be a preview of a third meeting between these teams in the Playoff quarterfinals.

Line: Texas -3 4.

Big Ten The stakes in this one are similar to the SEC, but this is a top-three showdown and a matchup we havent seen already this season.

Its only the fifth meeting between the schools and the first since the 1995 Rose Bowl.

Considering Oregon is such a recognizable brand and the only undefeated program in the FBS, the Ducks have waddled through this season in a rather unassuming, workmanlike fashion.

Its the product of an unblemished but mostly unremarkable schedule.

Oregon deserves its ranking, but it hasnt had many high-profile games beyond the win over Ohio State , making the Ducks something of a black box from a national title race perspective.

This game could swing that sentiment in either direction.

Its also an opportunity for Penn State, which sneaked into the championship via Ohio States loss to Michigan , to change its narrative with a big-game win and potentially catapult itself into the top seed.

Line: Oregon -3.5 3.

Big 12 For as chaotic as the Big 12 has been this season, the outlook here is pretty straightforward: Win and youre in, lose and youre not.

The selection committee doesnt seem to think much of the Big 12, slotting Arizona State, Iowa State and BYU all 10-2 overall between Nos.

15 and 18 in the latest rankings.

All are behind the trio of three-loss SEC teams ( Alabama , Ole Miss , South Carolina ), and BYU is even behind three-loss Clemson .

Advertisement Regardless, Arizona State and Iowa State have earned a chance to play their way into the Playoff.

The Sun Devils went from last in the Big 12 preseason media poll to first in their first season in the conference, joining the horde of realignment newcomers playing on championship weekend.

The Cyclones already secured the first 10-win season in program history and can claim their first conference title since 1912.

If favorites win elsewhere, the Big 12 champion is likely locked into the No.

12 seed as the fifth auto bid, but an upset by Clemson and/or UNLV could vault the winner of this game into a top-four seed and first-round bye.

Line: Arizona State -2.5 2.

Mountain West This is where things could start to get interesting.

Maybe not if Boise State wins, which would undoubtedly wrap up a top-four bye.

But if UNLV pulls off the upset on the blue turf, it triggers a couple of possibilities.

One is clearing a path for the Big 12 to move into the top four while still giving the Rebels an auto bid into the 12-team field.

It also puts the selection committee in a tough spot in terms of what to do with Boise State.

Committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel has said teams shouldnt necessarily be docked or punished for losing the conference championship game while other teams are at home on the couch.

But he also said teams could drop in the rankings after a title game loss.

Huh.

If Boise State loses, would the committee dare to rank it below Alabama, keeping the Tide in the field as an at-large and jettisoning the Broncos? Yeah, probably.

But the justification and fallout would be fascinating.

Line: Boise State -4 1.

ACC If we get mayhem on Selection Sunday, its likely to involve the ACC championship.

An SMU victory would keep things pretty clean and simple, locking the one-loss Mustangs into a first-round bye.

But what if Clemson wins? The Tigers, despite having three losses and beating exactly one team that finished above .500 7-5 Pittsburgh would be in line for an automatic bid.

Advertisement Would that be enough to earn Clemson a top-four seed or simply deliver it the No.

12 seed? Either way, the bigger question is the same one asked about Boise State, but on a power conference scale: Would the committee drop two-loss SMU below Alabama in the final rankings? That would mean the Mustangs falling at least a couple of spots as a conference championship loser and the Tide climbing while idle.

Thats a precedent that would threaten the worth of conference title games and a predicament the committee would rather not wrestle with.

But if you love mess, root for the upset.

Line: SMU -2.5 (Photo of Clemsons Khalil Barnes: Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images).

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