Championship weekend is headlined by No.9 Bama vs No. 3 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, No.1 Ohio vs. No.2 Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indy, and No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No.1 BYU in the Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Multiple playoff implications exist in these matchups along with the right to be conference champion. These contests along with No. 17 UVA vs. Duke, at 7-5?, in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, No. 20 Tulane vs. No.24 North Texas in the American Conference Championship Game in N’Awlins, and, it’s hard to fathom this, but No. 25 James Madison vs. Troy in the Sun Belt Championship in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is part of the playoff equation if Duke were to defeat Virginia. So a ton at stake in these conference championship games. Major upheaval in the coaching profession led by that guy who went to LSU. He’s Lame on this Blog from now on. Not going to refer to him in any other context except Lame, because that’s exactly what he is. He’s got offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. calling plays for Ole Miss when it enters the playoff. At first that sounded pretty cool on Lame’s part. But when you found out that LSU will pay him what Ole Miss would have paid him bonus-wise in the playoff, meaning he gets $150K for taking the team to the Playoff, he gets $250K for reaching the quarters. For advancing to the semis, he’d receive $500K. For an appearance in the Championship Game, he would get $750K. And for winning it all, he’d make $1 Million. So, if Lame is fortunate enough and the team he deserted wins it all, he would earn $2.65 Million. Nice, Lame. Guy’s still a joke in my book. You can’t trust him. He’ll turn on you. He may do well in Baton Rouge, but if he does, he may just hop on a plane and head to an NFL city to coach that team. He ruined any goodwill he had gained in college football with his latest antics. He’s public enemy number one in Oxford and in other places throughout college football. LSU opens up its SEC season next fall in Oxford. That’ll be must watch TV.
Pete Golding has taken over in Oxford. Excellent recruiter, and has become a very good defensive coordinator at Ole Miss. I say give Pete a shot. He’s loyal and Ole Miss needs loyalty after that con artist left town. Ole Miss is No.6 in the Playoff Rankings. So, as of today, they’ll host the No.11 seed in the first round Friday, 12/19, or Saturday, 12/20. You’re almost pulling for the Rebels. They got a raw deal. So did the Ole Miss fans. Jimmy Sexton is part of the problem, too, as he is the agent for Kiffin and several other coaches in College Football. He just wheels and deals the most money he can get out of schools with tremendous buyouts. He’s part of the reason the sport is out of control. I don’t know what you do about him. College Football has a lot to address in the offseason: buyouts, agents, coaches leaving their teams during the season, the Playoff format. A lot to improve upon. I’m in favor of a 16 team playoff now as Vanderbilt, Texas and Miami or Notre Dame may be left out. I guess you can throw Utah in there, too. Expand the field. Greg Sankey can make that happen.
Tulane Coach Jon Sumrall is going to Florida, but will coach the Green Wave Friday and if they make it into the Playoff. South Florida Coach Alex Golesh is now an Auburn Tiger, which will be challenging. It’s to be determined on Golesh. Memphis Coach Ryan Silverfield goes to Arkansas to become its head coach. Interesting and head spinning jumping around in the coaching world. Penn State still doesn’t have a coach as BYU’s Kalani Sitake decided to stay put after the great Indiana Coach Curt Cignetti took a massive extension at Indiana instead of going to Penn State earlier this season. Sitake was extended for several years and for $9 Million a year. So Penn State might be getting desperate. Otherwise, pretty normal times in college football last weekend.
But let’s now turn our attention to the Championship Games with riveting matchups throughout the lineup. Can the Crimson Tide knock off the Georgia Bulldogs again? The Tide defense keeps the Tide in it, and if Ty can make some plays in the passing game, that would be critical for the Tide’s chances. And the Alabama defense will have to contain Gunner Stockton, running back Nate Frazier Jr. and the Georgia arsenal on the perimeter led by Zachariah Branch. If they can do that, they have a shot. That’s a tall order, but possible. Prediction below. We’ll see who’s more for real in the Big Ten, Ohio State or Indiana. Both look to be outstanding, but the competition has been Miller Light for both teams many Saturdays.
BYU vs Texas Tech in the Big 12 has major playoff implications. Win or lose, No.4 Texas Tech is in the field. BYU HAS to win to make it into the field.
Will have those three games and the other matchups this weekend that are relevant to the playoff.
Here are analyses and predictions.
Record:
Last Week: Straight up: 15-5, Overall: 157-48, 77%; ATS: 7-13, 94-111, 46%; O/U: 8-12, 105-100, 51%.
Four games Saturday, 2 games Friday. All times Central.
SEC Championship Game
No.9 Alabama (10-2) vs. No. 3 Georgia (11-1)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, 75,000
3 P.M.
ABC
Chris, Kirk, Holly, Laura
Georgia by 2 1/2, 48 1/2
Everybody knows it’s extremely hard to defeat a team the caliber of Georgia once in a season, and twice in one season is almost unheard of. But I like Kalen, Ty and the Crimson Tide defense to do just that. Alabama will probably rise to No.5 or 6 if they win. No.4 means they’d have to hurdle Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas Tech, which will be tough. Still a first round home game at Bryant-Denny is at stake. If the Tide loses, it could be tough sledding come Sunday. But I’ll take them over Georgia. Georgia is 1-9 against Alabama since 2015 and Kirby Smart is 1-7 and 0-2 versus Coach DeBoar.
Alabama 24, Georgia 23
Big Ten Championship Game
No.1 Ohio State (12-0) vs. No.2 Indiana (12-0)
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, 70,000
7 P.M.
FOX
Gus, Joel, Jenny
Buckeyes by 4 1/2, 47 1/2
Give me Cignetti and the Hoosiers. Believe in them.
Indiana 27, Ohio State 24
Big 12 Championship Game
No. 4 Texas Tech (11-1) vs. No. 11 BYU (11-1)
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX., 80,000
11 A.M.
ABC
Tess, Jess, Katie, Kris
Red Raiders by 12 1/2, 49 1/2
Texas Tech shellacked BYU in their first meeting in Lubbock on Saturday, November 8th, 29-7.. I like Coach Sitake and BYU to give the Red Raiders everything they want this time, but for Texas Tech to prevail at the end and earn a first round bye in the Playoff. Unfortunately, BYU won’t make it in, but they’ve had a highly successful season in 2025. LJ Martin is a phenomenal running back for the Cougars as he’s rushed for 1,134 yards and 8 TDs. He’s a load to bring down at 6’2″, 220. But stud linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and their other stud DE, David Bailey, lead the team to victory.
Texas Tech 24, BYU 21
ACC Championship Game
No. 17 Virginia (10-2) vs. Duke (7-5)
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C., 75,037
7 P.M.
ABC
Sean, Gregory, Molly, Taylor
UVA by 4 1/2, 58 1/2
How did Duke even qualify for this? Head to head and common opponent records were a wash with four other teams including Miami that ties for 2nd in the ACC. What got Duke over the top was the combined win percentage of each tied team’s ACC opponents. Essentially a strength of schedule metric. So here Duke is. Like Virginia to win and make its way into the playoff. Great story for Coach Tony Elliott and the Hoos.
Virginia 35, Duke 24
Friday’s Games
Sun Belt Championship
Troy (8-4) @ No. 25 James Madison (11-1)
Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA., 24,877
6 P.M.
ESPN
Anish, Andre, Carc
JMU by 23 1/2, 47 1/2
I like James Madison, but I like the Trojans to make it tough for a while. I’m picking UVA to defeat Duke, but if Duke were to win that would make an interesting scenario or semi-crisis for the committee whether to pick Duke or James Madison. I like for Virginia to take care of business though. If Duke won, I would take Duke over James Madison. They’re better than James Madison.
James Madison 31, Troy 17
American Athletic Championship
No.24 North Texas (11-1) @ No. 20 Tulane (10-2)
Yulman Stadium, NOLA, 30,000
7 P.M.
ABC
Mark, Roddy, Quint
North Texas by 2 1/2, 67 1/2
“It could be worse, it could be raining,” as was said in Monty Python. Decent chances of rain in the Crescent City, so I’ll go with a lower scoring game here with North Texas prevailing and making it into the Playoff.
15 Responses
Lame is just being Lame. I like the name. It would be something if Indiana beat OSU and Bama beats UGA. I am not sure how it would change the polls but it would be interesting.Thanks for DW
Thanks, Joseph.
I am with you, DW, on the Tide defense will be one of the difference makers. My favorite player is Bray Hubbard #18 at safety. He leads the conference in interceptions with 4 and tied for forced fumbles with 3, tied for 7th in tackles for defensive backs with 55. This is first team all-SEC credentials and to be frank this is All- American honors as well. By the way, he played with the flu last weekend. Can not deny him vs. the Tigers. I don’t seem to hear the commentators/ play by play personalities pointing to any of these details. The Tide will need their best game of the season to post the victory vs. the Bulldogs.
I think you know how I feel about Lame and LSU will soon find out to be careful what you wish for! Bama is a beat up squad but , so is everyone at this time of the year. The due theory leans toward the Dawgs but, hopefully the mojo will continue.
Know about Bray, Brombey. He’s awesome, I agree. Thanks.
Thanks, WP.
I’m with you on Lame DW. He held all the cards. He could’ve easily talked to his team and told LSU to wait until after the playoffs…but Lame has to be lame. He was probably adhering to his coed girlfriend’s advice.
I hope Bama‘s dominance over George continues. I don’t know if this is the team to go any further, but I think we’ll take Georgia. RTR boys!
… and I’m glad you mentioned it… Bray Hubbard is a baller. I’ve loved his play all season.
Agree with all that, CBP! As you and Brombey point out, and Brombey with his excellent stats, Bray is a phenom and the one of the main bellcows of this defense. Thanks, Charles Belgrave!
DW, agree on Lame. It would have been great to see commitment and dedication to a program to build it from the ashes of history and take it to a National Championship. He could have done it but these guys are not choir boys. We will see. I am worried that if Tide does not win they are going to get hosed somehow in the playoffs. Thanks for all your work. WT
Thanks, WT. know they’re not choir boys, but isn’t there still room for somebody to have some integrity? I hope we haven’t given up on that concept.
Great games last night. Troy and J Madison was a good one. Tulane stood tall. Thought they may have been a little deflated but not so,… 3 Coaches from American now in the SEC,.. interesting. Great games today. Thx for the write ups,… I agree with your Lame position. Definitely agree that College Football needs to address the issues. Have a great day.
Thanks, Staige! Excellent commentary. Enjoy your weekend and the games. Bucs hanging tough.
Glad to see Tulane win last night.
I like your picks today. Only thing UGA has going for it may be the law of averages
DW your Vandy hoops team looking very strong.
Thanks, MB! Yes went back and forth on Tulane. Went with NT. Kicking myself for it. Thanks for the comment on my basketball team, MB. Real pumped about’em. Love our Coach. Hope your Tigers can keep “matriculating” through this difficult pre-conference schedule. No. 2 Zona tonight. Hope y’all are successful there. Should really get your guys ready for the SEC gauntlet. Thanks, Brownie.