Here's a rundown of where the P5 conferences stand in terms of their championships.
ACC
Atlantic - Clemson (7-0) clinched with the best record in the division.
Coastal - Pitt clinches with their next win or the next loss by UVA. UVA can only win the division by winning out and Pitt losing out.
SEC
Determined last week: Georgia vs. Alabama. Both teams just straight up have the best records in their division.
Big Ten
West - Northwestern (6-1) clinched today. Even if Wisconsin and/or Purdue win out (both 4-3) and NW loses out, NW has the head-to-head against both.
East - It's down to Michigan (7-0) or Ohio State (6-1). Michigan can clinch next week if they win (against Indiana) and Ohio State loses (to Maryland). If any other combination of outcomes occurs, then Michigan/Ohio State becomes winner-take-all.
Pac-12
North - Washington State (6-1) and Washington (5-2) are in the lead, and it will likely come down to the Apple Cup as winner-take-all. Same deal as Michigan/Ohio State. Stanford (4-3) lost to both teams.
South - Arizona State (4-3) controls their destiny. Utah (5-3), USC (4-3), and Arizona (4-3) are right behind them, almost with a round robin of losses to each other.
I don't think many people realize that the Pac-12 South is doing #goacc almost better than the ACC Coastal is.
The Pac-12 is funny because they almost rigidly stick to a non-conference, then cross-divisional, then divisional game schedule. Until this week, when they throw a bunch of cross-divisional games and byes into the mix, which doesn't help clear anything up.
Big 12
This conference is tricky due to the "two best teams" format. Right now, WVU and Oklahoma (both 6-1) control their destiny, and will play each other on Black Friday. The winner will have at least 7 wins. This also means that both championship game participants will have at least 6 wins, which means that any team with more than 3 losses is out.
Texas and Iowa State (both 5-2) are still in the mix. They play each other next week, and the loser will be out.
I'm pretty sure that the WVU/Oklahoma winner is guaranteed a spot in the Big 12 championship game. They will play either the WVU/Oklahoma loser or the Texas/Iowa State winner.
Comments
Week 12 update, while the primetime games are still in progress.
ACC
Clemson vs. Pitt. Both teams have best records in their division.
Big Ten
West - Northwestern (7-1) has best record.
East - Winner of Michigan (8-0) at Ohio State (7-1) clinches the division.
Pac-12
North - Winner of the Apple Cup between Washington State (6-1) and Washington (6-2) will clinch the division.
South - Utah (6-3, done with conference play) and Arizona State (4-3) are the last two in contention. I thought Arizona (4-3) might still be, but they wouldn't win the tiebreaker against Utah. Since ASU/Az play next week, there cannot be a three way tie at 6-3. Utah lost to ASU but beat Arizona. Therefore, if ASU wins out, they clinch the division. Utah clinches the division with the next ASU loss.
Big 12
It got a interesting when WVU (6-2) lost. But I'm not looking into it until the primetime games are done, so we know where Oklahoma, Texas, and Iowa State stand.
To Clemson:
Man...I guess people don't really want to discuss this at all lol
I'm reading it just waiting till it's settled to talk about the games.
I joke because this has been up for a week now and the first comment was the OP updating it lol.
Yeah, there's not a lot to discuss in this type of topic. Half of the field has been set, and the other half is pretty narrowed down. Last week still had a few too many variables. (Iowa State still being in contention in the Big 12 for instance.)
Although now that we know the possibilities for the Big 12, we could discuss which scenario would be funnier. I think seeing Texas lose to Kansas and forcing a WVU/Oklahoma two weeks in a row would be hilarious, considering how the Big 12 keeps moving games around to avoid that kind of scenario. And wouldn't it be something if WVU and Oklahoma split their games, and further screw themselves out of the CFP?
I can't bring myself to care about football this season
Big 12 is mostly settled, and will be decided on Friday.
It's down to Oklahoma (7-1), WVU (6-2), and Texas (6-2). Texas beat Oklahoma but lost to WVU.
Short version - WVU/Oklahoma winner is in. If Texas wins, they're in. If Texas loses, WVU/Oklahoma gets played two weeks in a row.
Longer version: If Texas loses, they finish 6-3. Then you either have 8-1 OK/6-3 WVU where WVU would have the tiebreaker for the #2 seed, or you have both OK and WVU at 7-2.
If Texas wins, they finish 7-2. Then, if WVU wins, all three teams are 7-2, and Oklahoma loses out by being 0-2 against the group. If Oklahoma wins, then WVU drops to 6-3 and falls out of the top 2.
If Texas is in the Big 12 championship game, they will be the #2 seed. (Either Oklahoma has a better record, or WVU has the tiebreaker.)
Have the same temas ever played in back to back weeks before? If also be curious to know the results of those games.
The second year of the Pac-12 championship game (2012) had that happen. UCLA hosted Stanford for the regular season finale, and then traveled to Stanford the following week for the title game (this was when the game was hosted by the team with the best conference record). They lost both games.
Two years ago, before the Big 12 championship game came back, Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State was the regular season finale and was a de facto championship game. Therefore, the two teams would have played two weeks in a row. That is what the Big 12 was trying to avoid, which is why they keep moving Bedlam.
There are very few scenarios in the ACC or SEC that would allow such a thing to happen if they keep the traditional Thanksgiving weekend games. Most of the main rivals are either in their division or in the other conference. UNC/NC State would be one possibility. Since Miami doesn't have a traditional end of season rival, if they play an Atlantic team in the final week, it could happen (although I think that would be limited to BC or Syracuse). The Big Ten likes to front load the schedule with cross divisional games, so most if not all of the games in the final week should be divisional games.
In a slightly different scenario, there were a couple of cases in the mid-90s where Florida State and Florida met in the Sugar Bowl a month after their rivalry games. In both cases, though, Florida played the SEC championship game in between, but for FSU, they had two Florida games in a row. The first time, the regular season game was a tie and FSU won the bowl. The second time FSU won the regular game and Florida won the bowl.
Pac-12 South sorted itself out. Both Arizona schools lost, so Utah is sitting alone at the top with a 6-3 record. They'll play the winner of Washington/Washington State.
We have two winner-take-all games this weekend - BIg Ten East (Michigan/Ohio State) and Pac-12 North (Washington/Washington State).
Then there are two Big 12 games that matter. Texas/Kansas and WVU/Oklahoma. But if Texas loses, WVU/Oklahoma doesn't matter.