It seems the stature placed on conference championships has been overshadowed a bit by the expanded College Football Playoff field and the weight given to whether a team makes the 12-team bracket or not as the defining verdict on its season.
Even winning a conference title becomes secondary to whatever happens next in the CFP, and increasingly it’s a disadvantage in some cases for playoff hopefuls to have to play an extra game this week and be vulnerable to ramifications of taking another loss while other teams sit home with their records intact. (See: Alabama and BYU)
But it’s still great theater for college football fans, with several teams playing as much for their CFP fate as for that conference title.
The action started Friday night and continues into Saturday with the CFP selection committee setting the final 12-team bracket on Sunday.
Here’s a look at each Saturday conference championship game (in order of kickoff time) and what’s at stake.
(All game times ET; all point spreads via ESPN Bet)
Big 12 Championship: No. 11 BYU (11-1) at No. 4 Texas Tech (11-1)
12 p.m. Saturday on ABC, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
The stakes seem straightforward in this one. BYU needs to win the Big 12 championship to make it through to the CFP field, or else the Cougars will be one of the top snubs from the bracket after a great season.
The problem is that BYU already lost to this Texas Tech team and it wasn’t particularly competitive, as the Red Raiders won 29-7 and didn’t allow any points until midway through the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
That’s why Texas Tech is a 12.5-point favorite.
The Red Raiders’ only loss came by four points on the road at Arizona State with starting QB Behren Morton sidelined. Otherwise, they won every other game by at least 22 points while ranking third nationally in scoring (43.2 points per game) and fourth in total offense (489.2 yards per game).
Morton has passed for 2,428 yards, 20 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, Cameron Dickey is a 1,000-yard rusher (1,023 yards and 13 TDs) and Caleb Douglas has been a big-play receiver (53 catches for 823 yards and 7 TDs). Meanwhile, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez might be the most well-known defensive player in college football at this point after an incredible season 101 tackles, 7 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries (including a TD), 4 interceptions, 6 pass breakups and a rushing TD.
BYU, meanwhile, won this season with its defense (14th nationally at 17.8 PPG) and rushing attack, led by LJ Martin (1,229 rushing yards, 11 TDs) and quarterback Bear Bachmeier (529 rushing yards, 11 TDs, 2,593 passing yards, 14 TDs and 4 INTs).
Both teams just retained their head coaches with Joey McGuire signing a new seven-year extension with Texas Tech and Kalani Sitake receiving an undisclosed long-term extension with BYU after Penn State pursued him for its opening.
All of the CFP bubble teams will be rooting for Texas Tech here, as a BYU win would mean both teams from the Big 12 make it in, taking a spot away from the other at-large hopefuls.
Prediction: Texas Tech 34, BYU 27
MAC Championship: Miami of Ohio (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4)
12 p.m. Saturday on ESPN, at Ford Field in Detroit
This one is all about the pride of a conference championship.
Miami (Ohio) won the regular-season meeting with Western Michigan, 26-17 back in October, with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. QB Dequan Finn passed for 260 yards and a TD and rushed for 52 yards and a score in that one.
But Finn left the team in mid-November and the RedHawks are now on their third-string QB, Thomas Gotkowski (411 passing yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs), who will be making his third start.
That previous meeting between the teams was Western Michigan’s only conference loss, meanwhile, as it finished atop the MAC standings at 7-1 with its nonconference losses coming to Michigan State, Illinois and North Texas.
QB Broc Lowry has passed for 1,572 yards, 7 TDs and 2 INTs and rushed for 875 yards and 14 scores to lead the team on the ground as well.
Western Michigan is a 1.5-point favorite.
Prediction: Western Michigan 28, Miami (Ohio) 17
SEC Championship: No. 3 Georgia (11-1) vs. No. 9 Alabama (10-2)
4 p.m. Saturday on ABC, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
One of the two truly big games of the day, the SEC powers clash in a much-anticipated rematch after Alabama won the regular-season showdown, 24-21, in Athens, Georgia, way back in September.
Georgia hasn’t lost since and will be in the CFP field regardless of the outcome Saturday, but it’s anyone’s guess what two losses to Alabama would do its seeding.
The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, is in a trickier spot after that 23-21 loss to Oklahoma last month (and, of course, because of the Week 1 loss to Florida State). Alabama needs a win to ensure it’s in the playoff.
If not, it will be part of the group of bubble teams including Notre Dame, Miami, potentially BYU, Texas and Vanderbilt who could be jockeying for two spots.
This is the fifth time Alabama and Georgia have met in the SEC championship game with the Crimson Tide winning the first four (2012, 2018, 2021 and 2023). More to the point, Georgia coach Kirby Smart is just 1-7 against the Tide (and 0-2 with Kalen DeBoer coaching Alabama).
But the Tide hasn’t been at its best offensively down the stretch, scoring fewer than 30 points in its last four SEC games. QB Ty Simpson was once a Heisman Trophy favorite and still has great overall numbers (3,056 passing yards, 25 TDs and 4 INTs), but he had a costly pick-six and fumble in the loss to Oklahoma and threw 2 more INTs vs. Eastern Illinois the next week.
Alabama is also expected to be without RB Jam Miller, who has battled injuries this season but rushed for 83 yards in the Iron Bowl win over Auburn before sustaining a lower leg injury.
Sources: Alabama tailback Jam Miller (lower leg) faces long odds to be available against Georgia on Saturday in the SEC title game, as he’s listed as questionable. He’s expected back for the postseason, as the injury isn’t considered serious. pic.twitter.com/H0aQYcAa20
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2025
Georgia is without starting C Drew Bobo.
Bulldogs QB Gunner Stockton has thrown just 5 INTs all season, but 4 of those have come in the last five games. Overall, he’s passed for 2,535 yards, 20 TDs and 5 INTs and rushed for 403 yards and 8 scores. He was not a big factor in that loss to Alabama, though, passing for just 130 yards and a TD.
Ditto for RB Nate Frazier (809 rushing yards, 5 TDs), who had a costly fumble in that loss and was thus limited to just 4 carries for 30 yards.
Both Bulldogs will need to do much better to turn the tide vs. Alabama on Saturday.
Georgia is a 1.5-point favorite.
Prediction: Alabama 27, Georgia 24
Big Ten Championship: No. 1 Ohio State (12-0) vs. No. 2 Indiana (12-0)
8 p.m. Saturday on FOX, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
This is the matchup college football fans have been waiting for all season as Ohio State and Indiana — the only remaining unbeaten teams nationally — have been building toward this showdown for months.
Both had relatively favorable schedules to get to 12-0 so this game will tell a lot about each, though it’s still possible that even the losing team ends up with a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Ohio State, the reigning national champion, scored the tone-setting 14-7 win over Texas in Week 1, but the only other opponent the Buckeyes played that is currently ranked was rival Michigan (a 27-9 win last week on the road for OSU).
Indiana had the pivotal 30-20 win on the road over fellow playoff team Oregon in October, but otherwise its only other game against a currently-ranked opponent was Iowa (a 20-15 road win).
None of that is to take away from the strength of these teams, however.
They are led by two Heisman Trophy favorites. Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza (2,758 yards, 32 TDs, 5 INTs, 6 rushing TDs) and Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (3,065-30-5) have been 1-2 in the race for weeks and now share the same odds, per BetMGM, at +175, but Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia is now also at the same odds.
Indiana has been the best story in college football in two seasons under coach Curt Cignetti, but many critics still aren’t ready to view them on par with the sport’s more traditional elites. A win over the Buckeyes would surely change some opinions, though.
Meanwhile, Ohio State might be even better than its 2024 national championship team. The Buckeyes have the top defense in college football, allowing just 7.8 points and 203 yards per game in their first year with defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and a unit loaded with top-end talent. They haven’t allowed more than 16 points in any game and held 10 of 12 opponents to under 10 points.
Matt Patricia’s defense swept B1G defensive individual honors 😤 pic.twitter.com/YbZmYPiWtH
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 3, 2025
Pair that with college football’s most efficient QB and arguably the top receiver in Jeremiah Smith (72 catches for 942 yards and 11 TDs), and it’s no surprise the Buckeyes have won every game since that tight battle with Texas by 18 more points.
These teams met last season with Ohio State giving Indiana its only regular-season loss, 38-15 in Columbus, Ohio, but the Hoosiers look like a better team this year as well.
Indiana is playing in its first Big Ten championship game after winning a share of the conference’s regular-season title for the first time since 1967.
Ohio State is a 4-point favorite.
Prediction: Ohio State 31, Indiana 24
ACC Championship: Duke (7-5) vs. No. 17 Virginia (10-2)
8 p.m. Saturday on ABC, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte
The worst-case scenario for the ACC is Duke winning this game and the conference getting shut out of the CFP as a five-loss Blue Devils team would finish behind two Group of 5 conference champions in No. 20 Tulane (AAC) and No. 25 James Madison (Sun Belt) with the automatic berths going to the five highest-ranked conference champions.
So there will be a lot of Virginia fans around the ACC on Saturday.
How did this happen in the first place? Five teams tied for second place in the ACC at 6-2 in league play — including 10-2 Miami, 9-3 Georgia Tech, 8-4 SMU and 8-4 Pittsburgh — but Duke won the convoluted tiebreaker based on opponents’ record in conference play.
Virginia has been one of the biggest surprises in college football this season with its only losses coming early to NC State, 35-31, in what actually counted as a nonconference game (as it was scheduled outside the ACC’s league slate) and 16-9 to Wake Forest late in the season.
The Cavaliers have already beaten Duke just a few weeks ago, 34-17 on the road on Nov. 15, and just need to finish business to earn the program’s first CFP berth.
Virginia is led by well-traveled sixth-year senior QB Chandler Morris, who previously bounced from Oklahoma to TCU to North Texas before arriving in Charlottesville this year. He’s passed for 2,586 yards, 14 TDs and 7 INTs with 5 rushing TDs. His 316 passing yards in the prior meeting with Duke were his second-most of the season.
RB J’Mari Taylor (997 rushing yards and 14 TDs) and WR Trell Harris (56-809-5) also had huge games vs. the Blue Devils with Taylor rushing for 133 yards and 2 TDs (with 25 receiving yards) and Harris catching 8 passes for 161 yards and a TD.
Duke’s best win all season was over Wake Forest while it took losses to Illinois, Tulane, Georgia Tech, UConn and Virginia, losing pretty much every big game this fall. The Blue Devils would be the most unlikely of conference champions, though they do have a good QB in Darian Mensah (3,450 passing yards, 28 TDs, 4 INTs) and a capable rushing attack led by Nate Sheppard (865 yards, 9 TDs).
Virginia is a 4-point favorite.
Prediction: Virginia 35, Duke 27
