American Athletic: Memphis retains their half-game lead, and they have the tiebreaker over Cincy. If they beat UConn, they at least share the title with UCF, and given their higher ranking, would represent the conference. UCF has a tougher road, facing both South Florida and East Carolina.
ACC Atlantic: Florida State
ACC Coastal: Georgia Tech won the right to face Florida State
Big Ten East: Ohio State wins
Big Ten West: The winner of this week's Wisconsin - Minnesota game wins the division
Big XII: 3-way tie for the lead among Baylor, TCU, and Kansas State. TCU has the easiest schedule, but Baylor controls their destiny. They previously beat TCU and close the season against Kansas State. If Baylor wins out, they win the conference. K State needs a TCU loss (who previously beat the Wildcats) and a win over Baylor. TCU needs to win out and hope K State beats Baylor.
Conference USA East: Marshall
Conference USA West: Louisiana Tech's loss to Old Dominion means they need to beat Rice to win the division. If Rice wins, they play Marshall
MAC East: Bowling Green has won the division
MAC West: Toledo beat Bowling Green to maintain the 3-way race for this title. If Northern Illinois beats Western Michigan, they win the division, having previously beaten Toledo. Toledo needs a win and a Western Michigan win, as the Rockets previously beat the Broncos. Western Michigan needs to beat Northern Illinois and hope Toledo loses.
Mountain West Mountain: If Boise State beats Utah State, they win the division. If the Aggies win and the Rams win, the Rams capture the title. The Aggies need a Rams loss and a victory over Boise State.
Mountain West West: Fresno State and San Diego State lead. Since the Bulldogs previously beat the Aztecs, Fresno State wins the division with a victory over Hawaii. San Diego State needs Hawaii to beat the Bulldogs while they take care of San Jose State. Losses by both of these teams makes the division title messy.
Pac-12 North: Oregon
Pac-12 South: UCLA wins the title if they beat Stanford, as they previously beat both Arizona and Arizona State. If Stanford upsets UCLA, the winner of the Battle for Arizona wins the division.
SEC East: If Missouri wins, they capture the division. A Tiger loss gives the title to Georgia
SEC West: Alabama has won the title
Sun Belt: Georgia Southern has won the title
Tues Nov 25
Miami Ohio Redhawks at Ohio Bobcats: Ohio wants the win to be bowl-eiligible, although I don't think they'll be chosen for a bowl anyway. OHIO by 10
Thurs Nov 27
#6 TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Longhorns: TCU shouldn't have much trouble beating Texas, but winning the Big XII is a tougher challenge. TCU by 24
LSU Tigers at Texas A&M Aggies: Thanksgiving evening used to be the Texas - Texas A&M game. Now that those two teams are in separate conferences, they have split up and each play a conference opponent on Thanksgiving. The Aggies may have the better shot at winning. Both they and LSU have 7-4 records, although LSU has been more impressive in their victories. I give LSU the nod, but Texas A&M could win. LSU by nine
Fri Nov 28
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at #13 Marshall Thundering Herd: Will Marshall rest their starters in preparation of the Conference USA Championship? After all, they know that an unbeaten record gives them no chance to play in the playoffs. If they rest them, Western Kentucky has the talent to win. However, I think Marshall has something to prove, and that unbeaten record is important to them. MARSHALL by 20
#16 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Iowa Hawkeyes: Nebraska has lost two games in a row. Minnesota played them closer than Wisconsin, but the Huskers are definitely slipping. Iowa might beat them, but the Hawkeyes haven't exactly been cruising recently either. NEBRASKA by six
Arkansas Razorbacks at #18 Missouri Tigers: Arkansas has shut out two opponents in a row, but I don't think they'll make it three. Arkansas might win, but Missouri needs this victory to capture the SEC East title, so that should be incentive enough to win, even if it takes a late score. MISSOURI by four
Stanford Cardinal at #20 UCLA Bruins: It's simple for UCLA -- they win, they capture the division title. Stanford would love to play spoiler, but I don't think their defense is good enough this year to do it. UCLA by six
#22 Colorado State Rams at Air Force Falcons: The Rams are 10-1 and still need Utah State to upset Boise in order to capture the division title. The Rams will do their part by grounding the Falcons. COLORADO STATE by 20
Northern Illinois Huskies at Western Michigan Broncos: The battle for the MAC West should see Northern Illinois victorious, but the Huskies have been mostly unimpressive, despite a 9-2 record. Watch out for a Broncos upset. NORTHERN ILLINOIS by nine
UCF Golden Knights at South Florida Bulls: UCF needs the win to have even a chance at the conference title. They should get it. UCF by 16
East Carolina Pirates at Tulsa Golden Hurricane: The Pirates don't have a chance at the conference title, but they are playing for a great bowl game. Tulsa won't be that tough an obstacle. EAST CAROLINA by 16
GAME OF THE WEEK: #19 Arizona State Sun Devils at #12 Arizona Wildcats: Yes, the Game of the Week is on Friday. The Iron Bowl is not as important as this game, which could decide a division title. This game is played at the same time as the UCLA game, so neither knows the result until the games are over. I think Arizona stands the better chance of winning, but these rivalry games can go either way. ARIZONA by eight
Sat Nov 29
Top 25:
#21 Auburn Tigers at #1 Alabama Crimson Tide: The Tigers often battle tough in the Iron Bowl, but Bama has had their number in recent years. Expect that trend to continue. ALABAMA by 13
Florida Gators at #2 Florida State Seminoles: Forget the rivalry on this one. Florida has been too inconsistent to challenge the comeback kids. Florida State may have their easiest victory of the season. FLORIDA STATE by 17
#3 Mississippi State Bulldogs at #15 Ole Miss Rebels: Prior to Arkansas, I was picking this game to be a close challenge. Now, too many holes have been exposed in Ole Miss' defense. Expect the Bulldogs to capitalize and further cement their place in the playoffs. MISSISSIPPI STATE by 12
#4 Baylor Bears at Texas Tech Red Raiders: Baylor is in the driver's seat for both the conference title and the playoffs. That will propel them to a strong win, especially with the porous defense of Tech. BAYLOR by 24
Michigan Wolverines at #5 Ohio State Buckeyes: The close call against Indiana will be a wake-up call for the Buckeyes, not that they need any additional incentive to get it up for Michigan. OHIO STATE by 23
#7 Oregon Ducks at Oregon State Beavers: The Beavers love to play spoiler against their in-state rivals. While the Ducks have too many tools, the Beavers might keep it close, which could impact the playoff selection committee. OREGON by 13
#11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at #8 Georgia Bulldogs: Tech had an extra week to prepare, while Georgia didn't really have a warm-up opponent in Charleston Southern. This will be a real dog fight (no pun intended, Uga), but I'll give a slight edge to the home team. GEORGIA by four
Minnesota Golden Gophers at #9 Wisconsin Badgers: Minnesota beat Nebraska to remain in the division hunt, but they face the Badgers. As good as Minnesota has been, Wisconsin has punished opponents in recent weeks, and I have to expect them to do that again. WISCONSIN by 17
#10 Michigan State Spartans at Penn State Nittany Lions: Penn State was shocked by Illinois last week, and would love to finish with a win. Unfortunately they host the Spartans; they won't get that win. MICHIGAN STATE by 20
Kansas Jayhawks at #17 Kansas State Wildcats: Kansas seems to have exhausted themselves when they played TCU. That helps Kansas State. KANSAS STATE by 23
UConn Huskies at #23 Memphis Tigers: UConn is having a tough year, so this should be an easy victory for Memphis. The fact that a win gives them at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title is a bonus. MEMPHIS by 24
Utah State Aggies at #24 Boise State Broncos: This might be the toughest challenge the Broncos have faced in weeks. The Broncos win their division with a win, but the Aggies may have hope if the Rams lose on Friday. Even if the Rams win, Utah State might like playing spoiler. This will be a real battle, but I give a slight edge to Boise State. BOISE STATE by six
Kentucky Wildcats at #25 Louisville Cardinals: Kentucky was tough early in the season, but they've lost steam. LOUISVILLE by 14
Big Ten:
Illinois Fighting Illini at Northwestern Wildcats: The winner of this game is bowl-elibile, the loser stays home. It would be nice for the Illini to do that, but I think it's best that Northwestern wins. The bowl committee always pairs Big Ten teams against teams with better records, because they don't want the Big Ten to succeed. Northwestern can be unpredictable, and may surprise an opponent. Illinois isn't there yet. NORTHWESTERN by nine
Purdue Boilermakers at Indiana Hoosiers: The loser is the worst team in the Big Ten. Indiana is looking for their first conference win, and they played Ohio State hard last week. I have to pick the upset and go with Indiana to get their first win. INDIANA by three
Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Maryland Terrapins: The two newest members of the conference close the season by playing each other. Both teams are bowl eligible, but Maryland has done a better job against conference opponents. I think the Terrapins will finish with a great 5-3 conference record. MARYLAND by ten
Other Games of Interest:
South Carolina Gamecocks at Clemson Tigers: South Carolina has been inconsistent and sputtering for most of the season. I have to side with Clemson on this one. CLEMSON by 16
Cincinnati Bearcats at Temple Owls: Temple was doing well early in the season, but they have faltered. In the meanwhile, Cincy has improved. Cincy can't win the conference, but a win here pads their bowl resume. CINCINNATI by 17
Notre Dame Fighting Irish at USC Trojans: The Irish have lost two in a row. Can the Trojans make it three? They themselves just lost to bitter rival UCLA, so they have incentive to go out and play a good game. So does Notre Dame. This will be a battle, but I think USC will edge it out late in the game, when the Irish tend to fade. USC by three
Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Duke Blue Devils: Wake has suffered all season. While Duke has now lost a chance at the division title, they won't slack off now. DUKE by 18
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