College Football Conference Championship Predictions: Bold Picks for Every Power League

With the extended playoff format, it feels like we aren’t close to the actual end of the college football season, but we’ve reached the final week of the regular season. 

Whoever wins their conference championship in the power conferences will earn byes in the playoffs, so this week will be massive for a few teams. 

Let’s predict what each conference’s championship game will be.

Big Ten: Ohio State vs. Indiana

Real bold prediction from me on this one. I don’t see a universe where Purdue upsets Indiana, and I don’t know how Ohio State loses The Game this year. Of course, the entire universe thought the Buckeyes would win by three scores last year and managed to lose, so you can’t count out Michigan.

Oregon still has a difficult road test at Washington this week, so not only do they need to take care of business, but they need Michigan to pull off magic against their archrivals once again. This Ohio State team feels so much better than in years past. If Ryan Day finds a way to lose again, his seat won’t be warm, but the Ohio State faithful will become even more annoying than they already are.

SEC: Texas A&M vs. Georgia

I’m taking one of my big upsets in the SEC. Alabama has been on the brink of being upset all season long, while Auburn has been on the verge of pulling one off all year. Ashton Daniels is expected to start for Auburn in the Iron Bowl, and I would feel way better about the chance of an upset if freshman QB Deuce Knight was getting the start, as he provides the Tigers so much with his legs.

However, I like taking Georgia as my second team in the SEC because they’ve already completed their conference slate. They have an SOS tiebreaker they could win over Alabama, or an outright second-place claim with a win over Auburn. And so much would have to go wrong for Texas A&M to miss the championship that, even if they lose to Texas, I still think they’ll be playing in Atlanta next weekend.

Big 12: Texas Tech vs. BYU

This is the easiest conference to predict. 

The current top two in the Big 12 both face bottom-four teams in the conference, and I would be beyond shocked if either stumbled. Getting a rematch between Texas Tech and BYU would be one of the best games of championship weekend, and BYU might need to pull off the upset if they want to make the playoffs — definitely a matchup to keep your eye on.

ACC: Virginia vs. SMU

My answer in this game is a bit of a cop-out. There are 64 possible outcomes in the ACC championship race among six teams. Virginia and SMU both make the conference championship with a win. They’re the only two teams in the conference who don’t need anyone else’s help.

Pitt, Georgia Tech, and Miami are probably the three best teams from the conference, and there’s a very real chance none of them even make the playoffs, as they’re not going to win the ACC.

I think Virginia wins their rivalry game over Virginia Tech at home, and I like SMU over California enough to pick them as the other team out of the ACC. It’s a shame we likely won’t see Miami in the conference championship, as I believe they’re the only team in the conference that can compete with other playoff teams in the trenches.

However, the funniest possible outcome is this:

Duke wins over Wake Forest, Miami beats Pitt, and either SMU loses or UNC beats NC State, and Virginia wins. That mess would allow 7-5 Duke into the ACC Championship, where they could then win the conference and eliminate themselves from the playoffs entirely. That is the best possible outcome for this Saturday.