College football schedule today: Clinching scenarios to watch in rivalry games

Rivalry Week is here, and what happens on the field will have a huge influence on Championship Saturday and College Football Playoff selection

Nothing helps define college football better than Rivalry Week, and the regular season finale means even more this year as several contenders are hoping to use their last game as a jumping-off point to Championship Saturday, and for the lucky few, College Football Playoff selection and beyond.

Where do things stand in the conference championship picture as we move into this weekend's final regular season games? In all, six title bouts remain up for grabs, some with one spot yet to be taken, and others with both.

• ACC: Florida State vs. Louisville
• SEC: Georgia vs. Alabama
• CUSA: Liberty vs. New Mexico State
• MAC: Miami (Ohio) vs. Toledo

Here's your look at what can happen on Friday and Saturday as it pertains to Championship Weekend at the start of December.

Big 12

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Who's in? Nobody, yet

Everything is leaning towards Texas and Oklahoma State meeting in Arlington in two weeks. If the Longhorns can beat Texas Tech and the Cowboys can take out BYU, they're both in the Big 12 Championship Game. 

Kansas State and Oklahoma are still in the picture, as well. Here's how:

First, for the Wildcats...

• Beat Iowa State
• Texas beats Texas Tech
• Oklahoma State loses to BYU
• Oklahoma loses to TCU

And for the Sooners...

• Beat TCU
• Texas beats Texas Tech
• Oklahoma State loses to BYU

Big Ten

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Who's in? Iowa

Who plays the Hawkeyes? It's down to two of college football's fiercest rivals, Ohio State and Michigan. The winner of their game on Saturday will represent the East Division and play for the Big Ten title. And at this point, whoever wins in Indy will also go to the College Football Playoff.

Pac-12

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Who's in? Washington

Oregon can secure a rematch against a Huskies team that handed it its only loss of the season. That is, if the Ducks can take down Oregon State on Friday.

But then there's Arizona. Although the Wildcats are in the picture, they don't control their own destiny. Arizona needs to beat Arizona State in the Territorial Cup and for Oregon to lose to the Beavers.

If that happens, Arizona and Oregon would be in a two-way tiebreaker. And because they each have the same record against "common opponents," the Pac-12 would move to the next tiebreaker: to calculate winning percentage against common opponents. Technically the best in that scenario is Washington, which both teams lost to. The next best is Oregon State, which, in this scenario, would have a win over Oregon and a loss to Arizona.

AAC

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Who's in? Nobody, yet

Coming into Rivalry Week, there's a three-way tie for the top spot in the American. Tulane, SMU, and UTSA all sit at 7-0 in league play. Two of those, Tulane and UTSA, will face each other on the same field in the finale, so the winner of that game will play for the conference title. 

SMU can take the other piece of that game by defeating Navy.

What if SMU loses? It's unlikely, but should it happen, that would mean that it and either Tulane or UTSA would be 7-1 in AAC play, leaving the conference would use an average of computer rankings to see which team takes the other spot.

Mountain West

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Who's in? Nobody, yet

UNLV will host the conference championship game if it can beat San Jose State in the regular season finale, and the Rebels would play the winner of the Boise State vs. Air Force game for the title.

But if San Jose State beats UNLV, that creates a three-way tie between itself, UNLV, and the winner of Boise-Air Force. Should that happen, the MWC would choose a second team with computer rankings.

Sun Belt

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Who's in? Troy

James Madison is ineligible for the postseason, but it still has an influence over it, thanks to this week's finale against Coastal Carolina, which can clinch a date against Troy with a win over the Dukes, or if Appalachian State loses to Georgia Southern.

And should the Dukes defeat Coastal, App State can clinch by beating GSU.

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