SMU’s comeback effort seals the deal, Oregon looks like the team to beat and other takeaways from every college football conference championship game

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – DECEMBER 07: Head coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks celebrates with the trophy after the team’s 45-37 win against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2024 Big Ten Football Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Conference championship weekend is in the books, the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field is set and everyone is happy.

Right?

While most conference title games over the weekend largely impacted seeding — aside from a virtual CFP play-in in the Big 12 title game, won by Arizona State — Clemson made things a bit tougher on the committee with its ACC championship upset over 11-1 SMU. Despite a vocal lobbying effort from Alabama and the SEC, the committee ultimately chose not to punish the Mustangs for losing a 13th game heartbreakingly after coming from behind.

The Crimson Tide were left out, and SMU claimed the final at-large spot. Clemson’s win got it into the field as the No. 12 seed, but it missed out on a bye as Group of Five representative Boise State earned the No. 3 seed with its Mountain West title win with the Sun Devils at No. 4.

Sports talk shows may have picked up some discussion fodder for the next nine months, but regardless, it’s time to start looking ahead at the CFP. Before we do that, though, here are the takeaways from every conference championship game over the weekend.

Conference USA: Jacksonville State 52, Western Kentucky 12

Jacksonville State Head Coach Rich Rodriguez celebrates his team winning the C-USA Championship at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama , Alabama December 6, 2024. Jacksonville State defeated Western Kentucky 52 – 12. (Dave Hyatt / Hyatt Media LLC)

Western Kentucky played its way into the Conference USA title game with a 19-17 home win over…

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Author : FTW Outdoors

Publish date : 2024-12-09 23:18:00

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