Win and you are in.
For the Top 5 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings, that is all that has to be done as the season begins its final weekend.
Big 12 champion Oklahoma (11-1) has already won because the conference doesn’t have a title contest. The No. 3 Sooners are now just waiting to see where in the rankings they will finish when the final poll is released on Sunday, Dec. 6.
Three conference championship games on Saturday will likely determine the field of four for the playoffs, especially if the predicted favorites are victorious.
No. 1 Clemson (12-0) faces No. 10 North Carolina (11-1) in the title contest of the Atlantic Coast Conference in Charlotte.
“It’s exciting,” Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney said during his pre-game press conference. “I think this is awesome for our league, a sellout, and got two great champions, three teams from this league in the Top 10 right now, and two of them battling it out for the champion of the ACC.”
“You start your season, for us 124 days ago, and it kind of comes down to one day, four quarters away from achieving what we all set out to do at the beginning of the season, and that’s to be the ACC champion,” Swinney added. “Our team has had a great week of practice. Got a lot of respect for North Carolina, Coach (Larry) Fedora and the job that they’ve done. It’s been a special season for them, as well, and I don’t have any doubt it’ll be a great game.”
North Carolina Head Coach Larry Fedora hopes an upset would put his team in the Top 4.
“I most definitely do,” Fedora said. “I think if we beat the No. 1 team in the nation, then I believe this team deserves to be in the College Football Playoff.”
In the Southeastern Conference championship, No. 2 Alabama (11-1) takes on No. 18 Florida (10-2) in Atlanta.
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban is impressed with the Gators.
“Well, they are an outstanding defensive team, so the first thing you need to do is take care of the ball and the second thing you need to do is try to minimize negative plays, which is going to come with good execution, guys playing together, communicating well, getting a hat on a hat, whether it’s a run or a pass,” Saban said.
“I think you do have to have balance in a game like this against a team like this, and I think that’s going to be really key,” he continued. “Staying out third-and-long, because of the athleticism that they have is probably a real key because doing well on third down keeps drives alive and helps you control the football. And somewhere along the line, we need to make some big plays. So those are probably the key things for us on offense.
What about Florida on the other side of the ball?
“It’s going to be a challenge for our entire defense for sort of – everybody has to do their job and we can’t make mental errors,” Saban said. “We have to do a good job of tackling good skill players, and our front has got to do a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and the quarterback in the pocket.”
Florida Head Coach Jim McElwain is pleased to have his team in the hunt for a title in his first season in Gainesville.
“It’s the way it should be,” McElwain said. “It’s Florida and Alabama, in Atlanta, for the SEC championship. I am so proud of our players and all the people in our organization, from the administration on down that have committed to a higher standard and a higher level of expectation and it’s been great.”
An Early Playoff Game?
Perhaps the only true play-in affair is in the Big 10 championship game as No. 4 Iowa (12-0) is set to go toe-to-toe with No. 5 Michigan State (11-1) in Indianapolis.
“Extremely proud of our football team,” Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “This team is 12-0 this season mainly because we’ve had great leadership on and off the field. The players have had great respect for each other. They’ve been able to focus on what they need to do week after week. Just really proud of what they’ve done.”
“Michigan State is certainly a strong program and a very, very tough opponent,” Ferentz said. “We’ve got tremendous respect for their football team and their coaching staff. They’ve had a great season.”
Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio is equally impressed with the Hawkeyes.
“Iowa has an outstanding football team, obviously 12-0, very, very impressed with their quarterback, and I think C.J. Beathard makes plays, makes good decisions, obviously hasn’t thrown any interceptions, hasn’t thrown one since really the Northwestern game, middle of the season, good offense, very good offensive line, very well-coached football team,” Dantonio said. “Kirk Ferentz has done an outstanding job there in his time, 17 years. He’s built a culture there, he’s built a program, he’s build a legacy there, and it will be a great challenge for us to be able to play and be successful, but we’re looking forward to that.”
Saturday’s Other Top 25 Games
No. 7 Stanford (10-2) and No. 20 Southern Cal (8-4) are set to fight for the PAC-12 championship in Santa Clara.
The American Athletic Conference is scheduled to play its first conference championship game as No. 22 Temple (10-2) visits No. 19 Houston (11-1).
The only other ranked team in action is No. 12 Baylor (9-2), which entertains Texas (4-7) in a Big 12 regular season match-up.
Editor’s note: Quotes, photos and logos courtesy of CollegePressBox.com.