One of the most exciting weekends of the College Football season has arrived as Conference Championship Weekend begins on Friday Night. This season, we head into Conference Championship Weekend with massive College Football Playoff stakes, as the teams playing along with the teams at home will be closely following every score.
Conference Champions no longer being guaranteed the Top 4 seeds means there's a ton of jockeying for Playoff positioning that will take place this weekend. Several teams need a win this weekend as it could make or break their hopes of making the Playoff.
Our Biggest Power 4 Championship Weekend Forecasts
Big Ten: The winning Quarterback wins the Heisman
While Diego Pavia has become a trendy Heisman pick, Jeremiyah Love may be the best player, and Ty Simpson could light up Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, they'll all fall short to whichever quarterback wins the Big Ten Championship. The Heisman Trophy ballots open on Saturday, giving both Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin a chance to leave a strong last impression.
Fernando Mendoza has taken a massive leap since transferring in from Indiana, becoming the difference that makes this team a serious contender. Julian Sayin has jumped into the starting role and has been incredibly impressive, becoming arguably the best quarterback of the Ryan Day era. Both already have incredible Heisman resumes, and a win to cap off an undefeated season should land either quarterback the Heisman.
SEC: Kalen DeBoer conquers Kirby Smart once again
Kirby Smart has dominated College Football, but his struggles against Alabama are well-documented. When Kirby Smart would lose to Nick Saban, it was almost expected, but Kalen DeBoer has beaten Georgia in both of their matchups.
This meeting has the biggest stakes yet with the SEC Championship and a trip to the College Football Playoff on the line for Alabama. Georgia's offense struggled last weekend, and the loss of center Drew Bobo is significant against Alabama's defensive front. The Crimson Tide has more to play for this weekend, and with the advantage at Quarterback, they'll be able to pull off the win.
ACC: Virginia dominates Duke ending the chaos conversation
Everyone has talked all week about how Duke winning the ACC could lead to the Group of 5 getting a pair of teams into the Playoff. The only issue is that all of these scenarios ignore the fact that this Duke team has shown all season long that they're not a good team. Virginia won the first matchup by 17, and with a trip to the Playoff on the line, Tony Elliott's team is going to handle business.
Big 12: Texas Tech wins in a bigger blowout than the first matchup
The Big 12 Championship is a rematch of a game we've already seen as Texas Tech faces BYU. The Red Raiders won the first matchup 29-7, which doesn't speak to how dominant BYU was in the first game. Texas Tech settled for 5 field goals in the original matchup while BYU couldn't score until the game was already decided.
BYU would love for this game to be determined by their star running back LJ Martin, but Texas Tech is simply too good in the trenches. The Cougars don't have a good enough passing attack to win this game, and Texas Tech's defensive front will prove to be too much.