College football winners and losers: Taking stock of the conference races as we head to November

November is almost here.

Not only does that mean the end of political ads during every commercial break on Saturdays — just one more week to go! — but it also means that conference races are entering their stretch runs. And those conference titles may mean more than ever in 2024.

Thanks to the 12-team playoff, the top four conference champions in the final College Football Playoff rankings get a first-round bye and the fifth-best conference champ is also automatically in the field. We can safely assume that the four power conference champions will occupy those top four spots, but it’s hard to predict just who those four teams will be at the moment.

Here are the contenders for each of the nine conference titles across college football as we enter the final five weeks of the season. There’s still a lot to play for.

American

First tier of contenders: Army (6-0), Navy (4-0), Tulane (4-0)

Second tier: Memphis (3-1)

Remember, Army vs. Navy doesn’t count for the AAC title. The Black Knights have just North Texas and UTSA remaining on their schedule. Navy, who lost to Notre Dame on Saturday, has three winnable games and a home game vs. Tulane on Nov. 16. That game could decide who plays Army for the league title.

ACC

First tier: Clemson (5-0), Miami (4-0), Pitt (3-0), SMU (4-0)

Second tier: Virginia Tech (3-1), Louisville (3-2)

There are six teams feasibly in this race but it’s hard to envision a scenario where Miami and Clemson don’t meet for the ACC title. Given the way both teams are playing, it could be a game that’s for seeding purposes only in the College Football Playoff too. Next week’s game between Pitt and SMU will go a long way to determining who can play spoiler in the conference race after the Mustangs beat Duke in overtime on Saturday night.

Big 12

First tier: BYU (5-0), Iowa State (4-0), Kansas State…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-27 04:09:48

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