Conference championship weekend is here.
Nine conferences will decide their champions on Friday and Saturday. Four conference titles will be decided on Friday, while the other five will be decided a day later.
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Here’s what’s at stake in each game. Will Friday’s win at James Madison coupled with Saturday’s win at Duke knock the ACC out of the College Football Playoff?
Troy No. 25 James Madison
What are the dangers facing Troy: The Trojans are seeking their ninth conference title and third in five seasons. Troy won back-to-back Sun Belt titles in 2022 and 2023 under new Florida State coach Jon Sumrall. This year, the Trojans are looking to stir things up as they are the underdog against James Madison. After losing back-to-back games to Arkansas State and Old Dominion (the latter losing 33-0), Troy advanced to the Sun Belt Championship Game with wins over Georgia State and Southern Mississippi.
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What were the dangers faced by James Madison: If they take a big lead over Troy, don’t expect James Madison to show much mercy. There’s no reason why JMU shouldn’t eliminate Trojans if possible. A Duke win in the ACC Championship Game will likely put these Dukes into the College Football Playoff and clinch their own conference championship. James Madison’s defense is one of the best in college football and probably the best outside of the Big Four. JMU allowed just 4.2 yards per play and 16 points per game.
Kennesaw State University vs. Jacksonville State University (American Conference)
What’s at stake for Kennesaw State University: It’s been an incredible two seasons for the Owls at the top level of college football. Kennesaw State went 2-10 in 2024 but beat Liberty in its first year at the FBS level. This year, Kennesaw State has a 9-3 record and is competing for the conference title. KSU lost to Wake Forest by a point to open the season at 9-1 before beating Indiana in Week 2. What was the only loss during this period? Lost to Jacksonville State 35-26 on the road.
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What’s at stake for Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks have been an FBS team just one season longer than Kennesaw State and are looking for their third nine-win season in three years. Charles Kelly led the Gamecocks to another 7-1 conference record after taking over for Rich Rodriguez, and JSU won back-to-back CUSA championships.
No. 24 North Texas, No. 20 Tulane University (USA)
What’s at stake for North Texas: The main goal of both teams is the same. The winner of this game will advance to the College Football Playoff. UNT and Tulane are both ahead of James Madison in the CFP rankings, and the winner will stay there. If Duke wins the ACC Championship Game, the American champion could even earn a spot as the CFP’s No. 11 seed.
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The Mean Green’s only loss this season was a 63-36 loss at home to South Florida in a second quarter filled with inexplicable mistakes. Since that loss, the Mean Green has won six straight, all of which came on multiple possessions. Five of the six are even ahead by four points. North Texas leads the nation in scoring with nearly 47 points per game.
What’s at stake at Tulane University: North Texas and Tulane also wanted to send off their coaches in style. North Texas coach Eric Morris will leave for Oklahoma State after the season, and Samrall has been named the new coach at Florida State.
The Green Wave has won four straight since losing 48-25 to UTSA midweek. Tulane earned the nod from the playoff committee for its win over Duke in Week 3 and could schedule a game at Ole Miss a week later. Former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff completed 63 percent of his passes and rushed for as many touchdowns as he threw (14). Retzlaff is the team’s leading rusher with 561 yards.
UNLV Boise State University (Mountain West)
What’s at stake for UNLV: The Rebels have posted back-to-back 10-win seasons and are looking to reach 11 wins for just the third time in school history. Looking back at the past two years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the school’s only 10-win season before 2024 was in 1984. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is seeking its second conference title in school history and has posted 11 wins in consecutive seasons under different coaches. After 2024, Barry Odom left the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Purdue University, and former Florida State coach Dan Mullen was hired to replace him.
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What’s at stake for Boise State: The Broncos are chasing back-to-back division titles even though they know a playoff berth is out of the question this season. This is also the school’s last chance to win the Mountain West title. Boise State is one of five schools leaving the MWC to play in the Pac-12 before the 2026 season.
No. 11 BYU vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (Big 12)
What’s at stake at BYU: The Cougars defeated the Red Raiders to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time. Coach Kalani Sitake said he will remain at BYU due to interest from Penn State, capping off a strong week for the program. BYU has won 23 conference titles in school history, but it hasn’t won a conference title since winning the Mountain West in 2007 due to its football independence campaign in the 2000s.
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What’s at stake for Texas Tech: Tech is ranked No. 4 in Tuesday’s CFP rankings and is almost certain to make the playoffs even if it loses to BYU. But the Red Raiders will be backed by a very partisan crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. There will be a lot of loud red and black. The same scenario could play out in the College Football Playoff. If Tech wins, the Red Raiders could be assigned to the Cotton Bowl after a first-round bye. Back-to-back games at the DFW Met would be a pretty nice postseason bonus.
Miami(OH) vs Western Michigan(MAC)
What’s at stake in Miami (Ohio): The Redhawks are back in the MAC title game for the third consecutive season. Can they win a second game in this span? In 2023, the Miami Heat defeated Toledo 23-14. A season ago, the Miami Heat were swept 38-3 by Ohio University. This year, the Redhawks can say they are lucky to be in the title game. Miami clinched second place in the conference in a three-team tiebreaker despite losses to — you guessed it — Ohio State and Toledo, which tied the two teams.
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What’s at stake for West Michigan: The Broncos are one win away from their best season since 2016 when they went 13-1 and reached the Cotton Bowl under current Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck. Western Michigan won eight games in just one other season after Fleck left the Gophers. Saturday’s win coupled with a bowl victory would give the Broncos their second 10-win season in history.
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 9 Alabama (SEC)
What’s at stake for Georgia: A win guaranteed the Bulldogs a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. This will also be Georgia’s third SEC championship in the past four seasons. It also adds to the ridiculous campaign in Georgia under Kirby Smart. When you add in an 8-2 season in 2020, Georgia has won at least 11 games in eight straight full seasons. A win gave Georgia at least 12 wins in six of those eight seasons. It was an incredible success.
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What’s at stake in Alabama: The Crimson Tide won’t have to work too hard to make the playoffs on Sunday, as a win would put them in the playoff picture. A defeat, well, who knows this committee. A season ago, no team lost in the conference championship game and exited the playoffs. Is the same true true for Alabama? Or will the No. 9 Tide drop two spots to No. 11 and exit the playoffs entirely in favor of a team that isn’t in the tournament? Alabama’s disaster scenario is BYU winning and losing. It’s hard to imagine how Alabama would make the playoffs under these circumstances.
No. 1 Ohio State University vs. No. 2 Indiana University (Big Ten)
What’s at stake for Ohio State: The Buckeyes entered the playoffs as an eighth seed last year and went on to win four games en route to the national championship. This year, Ohio State will likely skip the first round no matter what happens on Saturday night. Whoever wins this game will be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and head to the Rose Bowl. Four more wins made Ohio State (or Indiana University) the first team in college football history to go 16-0. This will be the 11th undefeated season in program history.
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What’s at stake for Indiana: To say Indiana doesn’t have the football history that Ohio State does would be quite an understatement. The 2025 season marked just the second time in history that IU went undefeated in conference play. The other time was in 1945, when Indiana had a record of 5 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss in the Western Conference. Heck, Indiana has lost just one conference game in just seven seasons. One of those years was 1905, when the Indians played only two conference games. To be fair, a Big Ten title would mean more to the Indiana program, which is hungry for football success and is experiencing top-tier life since coach Kurt Cignetti arrived.
Duke vs. No. 17 Virginia (ACC)
What’s at stake for Duke: The Blue Devils have a chance to do the most interesting thing and knock out 12 teams with a win. Okay, maybe a Duke win isn’t all that interesting to ACC officials — you can bet Duke fans will be super sensitive about any controversial calls during Saturday’s game — but now that the playoffs have expanded to 12 teams, it’s going to be great for the idea of anyone having a chance to make the postseason. Duke went just 1-3 in non-conference play, losing to Illinois, Tulane and UConn. The three teams combined for a record of 27 wins and 9 losses.
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What are the dangers Virginia faces: A win would continue a dream season for Tony Elliott’s side. Virginia defeated Elliott just 11 times in Charlottesville’s first three seasons, and a win over Duke would tie that total. Oh, and this will make it to the College Football Playoff, too. Virginia last won a conference title in 1995, when it won the conference title in a head-to-head matchup with Florida State.