The regular NCAA Football season is over and not it’s time for the 2016 college football championship games. Nine conferences offer some sort of venue where they either decide the official champion, or they play a game that offers nonbinding results. The College Football Bowl selection committee considers these conference championship games before selecting the four teams that will go to the semi-final bowls from which this year’s NCAA Championship team will come. Along with selecting those four teams, the committee will also announce it’s final rankings of the top-25 teams in the nation.
The selection committee will meet from December 2nd through the 4th. On Sunday, December 4th, it will announce its decisions via ESPN. There are nine conference championship games that will be played this Friday and Saturday.
Friday, December 2
There are two conference championships on Friday evening. The first features two teams from the Mid-American Conference. They are winners of the MAC West Division, #17 Western Michigan and the top team in the East Division, Ohio. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET at Ford Field in Detroit.
The second game, which starts at 9 p.m. ET, is for the Pac-12 Championship. The game will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA and it features two nationally ranked teams. The Pac-12 North winners, #4 Washington, will play the South winners, #8 Colorado
Saturday, December 3
The rest of the action, seven games, takes place on Saturday. At noon, Temple, which is in the American Athletic Conference East, takes on #19 Navy, from the AAC West. The contest will be held at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
Also at noon, Louisiana Tech, from Conference USA West, plays Western Kentucky, which is in the East Division. That game will be played at L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
At 12:30 p.m. ET, The Big-12 plays a game that is not for the official conference title, but from which the Big-12 champs will be chosen. Played at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, this game looks to be highly competitive as #10 Oklahoma State takes on #9 Oklahoma. These two rivals will battle it out after these two teams finished one and two.
The Mountain West Conference championship game will be held at the War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. ET at the game features the top team in the West Division, San Diego State, playing the winner of the Mountain, Wyoming.
Saturday’s National Championship Contenders
At 4 p.m., the Southeastern Conference features #1 Alabama and #15 Florida. The Crimson Tide, which is sporting a perfect record, will try to keep it that way in this game. Alabama won the West Division with an 8-0 SEC record, while the Gators took the East at 6-2. The game will be held in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The Atlantic Coast Conference feature two nationally ranked teams. #3 Clemson, which has an overall record of 11-1 and a conference mark of 7-1, plays #23 Virginia Tech, which went 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC. Clemson won the Atlantic Division and is a contender for a National Championship berth, while Virginia Tech took the Coastal Division. The game will be plated at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with an 8 p.m. ET start.
This final conference championship game also has an 8 p.m. ET start. This is for the Big Ten Championship and it features #6 Wisconsin, from the West Division, and #7 Penn State, from the East Division. It’s played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Wisconsin finished the season with an overall record of 10-2 and division mark of 7-2, while Penn State earned an overall record 10-2 and division record of 8-1. This game could really upset the rankings by the Selection Committee and push Penn State, if they win, into a National Championship slot.
2016 College Football Championship games
This 2016 college football championship games offer fans and sports bettors the last big conference weekend before we enter the second season. That season is college football bowl season where there are over 40 games played. Of the 2016 college football championship games being played this week the Big Ten matchup between Wisconsin and Penn State stands to have the biggest impact on the Selection Committee.The Pac-12 playoffs game, between Washington and Colorado, may also influence selections. That’s played on Friday. Have a great NCAA Conference Championship weekend.
