On Friday the 3rd and Saturday the 4th, the College Football conference championship games took place with great games to shape the College Football Playoff.
First off, the Pac 12 Championship game was played with #10 Oregon and #17 Utah. Utah came out with a storming 23-0 lead at halftime and didn’t look back, winning with a score of 38-10. Running back Tavion Thomas rushed for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the Utes win the Pac 12.
The first game on Saturday was #9 Baylor vs. #6 Oklahoma State. The game was overall pretty close throughout as it came down to the last seconds to crown a champion. Baylor led 21-16 with 30 seconds left as Baylor had the ball on the one-yard line. On 4th and goal, running back Dezmon Jackson attempted to win the game for Oklahoma State but came up inches short after diving for the pylon.
At 4pm the SEC championship took place with #1 Georgia facing #3 Alabama. Georgia’s defense was the best in the country, averaging 6.9 points allowed per game.FOr the first time in 92 games, Alabama was considered an underdog. Alabama scored 24 points in the second quarter and won 41-24. Heisman finalist quarterback Bryce Young finished with 421 yards and 3 touchdowns and wide receiver Jameson Williams had 7 receptions for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns, tearing apart Georgia’s great defense.
#21 Houston vs. #4 Cincinnati also faced off at 4pm in the NCAA American Athletic Conference championship game. After a very close first half, with Cincinnati leading 14-13 at the break, Cincinnati broke out and scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter and didn’t look back, winning 35-20. Cincinnati ran the ball more than they threw, but quarterback Desmond Ridder was great, going 11/17 with 190 yards and 3 touchdown passes. The Bearcats running game was a huge part in their win, as running back Jerome Ford rushed 18 times for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The ACC championship was played at 8pm, which for the first time since 2008 didn’t have either Clemson or Florida State playing. #15 Pittsburgh took on #16 Wake Forest and came out on top with a final score of 45-21. After Wake Forest took a 21-14 lead after the first quarter, Pittsburgh came out firing, scoring 31 points unanswered. Quarterback and Heisman finalist Kenny Pickett finished with 253 yards and 2 touchdowns passes, including a wild 58-yard touchdown run. Pittsburgh’s defense stepped up and got 4 interceptions and in the last 3 quarters allowed 0 points.
Finally, #2 Michigan vs. #13 Iowa played for the Big Ten Championship. After coming off a huge win against Ohio State, Michigan kept it up and blew out Iowa, 43-2. Running back Hassan Haskins rushed for 56 yards and 2 touchdowns and wide receiver Roman Wilson caught 2 passes for 82 yards and a touchdowns, helping the Wolverines win the Big Ten. Michigan’s defense really stepped up allowing only 3 points the entire game.
The conference championship games shaped up the final 4 for the College Football Playoff, with Alabama at 1, Michigan at 2, Georgia at 3, and Cincinnati at 4. The games will take place on December 31, with the first game being the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between #1 Alabama vs. #4 Cincinnati at 3:30. Later at 7:30, #2 Michigan will take on #3 Georgia in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
