College football predictions for Championship Weekend center on the top contenders as they push toward the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six.
It all comes down to this, as we enter Championship Weekend across college football. Aside from some weather-related make-up games, the slate is composed of the ten conference championship games, with the Sun Belt finally joining the fray and giving each conference a title game for the first time.
Obviously, all eyes will be on the championship games, but there are some intriguing undercards with implications that I won’t have the time to take a deep dive into.
Perhaps the biggest is Virginia Tech/Marshall, where the Hokies will hope to extend their nation’s leading 25-year bowl steak (Florida State’s 36-year streak was snapped by Florida this year). This contingent game is a full go after Virginia Tech kept their hopes alive by extending another streak – winning their 15th straight over rival Virginia, continuing to torture the Hoos fanbase.
The other big one on the docket is the Big Game between Stanford and Cal, which was rescheduled to this weekend due to the rampant California wildfires. There isn’t a championship on the line, but the Stanford Axe will be up for grabs as the Golden Bears look to snap their eight-game losing streak to the Cardinal. The game also has implications in terms of bowl seeding.
Last weekend finally saw a playoff shakeup, thanks to Ohio State’s dominant win over Michigan. The last playoff spot, as long as chaos doesn’t infiltrate Championship Weekend, is likely to come down to Ohio State or Oklahoma.
The Sooners hold the initial edge by sitting at No. 5 while the Buckeyes are No. 6, but opinions could be swayed by the performance of each this weekend.
Of course, both teams will be rooting hard for Alabama on Saturday afternoon, as a loss by the Crimson Tide could open the door for the SEC to get two teams into the final four for a second year in a row, leaving the Big 12 and the Big Ten out in the cold.
Let’s dive into each of the conference title games, and make some predictions on how they will unfold.
Last week: 7-4 overall; 5-6 ATS (Season: 51-20 overall; 34-36-1 ATS)
All point spreads are courtesy of oddsshark.com as of Tuesday evening.