The College Football Playoff race is its own separate entity. 

We won’t know the makeup of the playoff until Sunday, December 8. Games played on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 (U.S. time) will finalize the playoff picture, giving the selection committee the final data points it needs to make a decision.

Committee decisions do not affect the various races for division championships in the various conferences. These titles are based purely on the standings and any head-to-head tiebreakers which might exist. 

Let’s give you an update on the main dramas surrounding the various division and conference championship races, starting with the smaller conferences and working up to the bigger ones:

SUN BELT CONFERENCE

Appalachian State leads Georgia State and Georgia Southern by one game in the Sun Belt’s East Division. App State has lost to Georgia Southern, and it plays Georgia State this coming weekend. 

An App State victory over Georgia State would leave Georgia Southern as the only contender to ASU for the division title. A Georgia State upset would throw the race into chaos. Georgia Southern plays Georgia State on Nov. 30.

In the Sun Belt West Division, Louisiana-Lafayette holds a one-game lead over Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe. Louisiana-Lafayette beat Arkansas State. It plays Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 30. Arkansas State beat Louisiana-Monroe head-to-head.

The division winners meet in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Dec. 7.

CONFERENCE USA

Florida Atlantic leads Marshall by half a game and Western Kentucky by one game in the Conference USA East Division. However, Marshall has beaten Florida Atlantic and Western Kentucky. If the three teams finish tied in the standings, or if Marshall finishes tied with either team, Marshall wins the division due to head-to-head tiebreakers. Florida Atlantic beat WKU. These three teams have no remaining games against each other.

Louisiana Tech leads Southern Mississippi by one game in the C-USA West Division, but since Louisiana Tech also beat Southern Miss head-to-head, the Bulldogs essentially lead the Golden Eagles by two games. Southern Miss needs to win out and have Tech lose twice. Otherwise, Tech wins the division.

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE

In the Mid-American Conference’s East Division, Miami University – also known as Miami of Ohio – leads Buffalo by 1.5 games. Miami beat Buffalo head to head. One more Miami win enables the Redhawks to win the division.

The MAC West Division is a picture of chaos. Five of the six teams are still alive for the division title. We’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say all those teams would help themselves by winning their remaining games.

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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

In the Mountain West’s Mountain Division, Boise State leads Air Force and Utah State by one game. Boise State beat Air Force. Air Force beat Utah State. Boise State plays Utah State on Nov. 23. Two more wins by Boise State, including a win over Utah State, would clinch the division for the Broncos.

In the West Division, San Diego State leads Hawaii, Nevada, and Fresno State by one game in the loss column. Nevada beat San Diego State, so if the Wolf Pack can finish tied with the Aztecs, they will win the division. San Diego State’s next two games are against Fresno State and Hawaii.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Cincinnati is in firm control of the East Division.

The West features a three-team race involving Southern Methodist, Navy, and Memphis. All three teams have one loss in conference play. SMU and Navy are 5-1, while Memphis is 4-1. Memphis defeated SMU and Navy, so it is in the driver’s seat in this race. SMU and Navy play on Nov. 23. However, Memphis must play Cincinnati on Friday, Nov. 29, so Memphis is hardly assured of the division title.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE

The Big 12 is the one remaining conference which does not have two divisions but it instead has a 10-team league. Everyone plays everyone else during the regular season – no other conference has that structure. In the Big 12, the top two teams in the league standings play in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 7.

This weekend, Baylor – 6-0 in the Big 12 – hosts Oklahoma, who are 5-1. Texas is third at 4-2. Three teams are at 3-3. One of them is Iowa State, which hosts Texas this week.

Start with that Texas-Iowa State game. If Texas loses, it will be very hard for anyone to prevent an Oklahoma-Baylor rematch in the Big 12 title game. If Texas wins, the Longhorns would have a chance to play their way into the Big 12 Championship Game.

The Longhorns play Iowa State and then Baylor. If Texas wins those two games plus its Nov. 30 finale against Texas Tech, Texas will play Oklahoma for the Big 12 title if OU beats Baylor this week. If Texas, OU, and Baylor finish in a three-way tie at 7-2 in nine Big 12 regular-season games, Texas and OU would advance because they both defeated Baylor head to head.

Baylor is 6-0, but playing Oklahoma and Texas means the Bears could fall out of the Big 12 Championship Game. They will be rooting hard for Iowa State to beat Texas this week.
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PAC-12 CONFERENCE

Oregon is in control of the North Division.

Utah leads USC by half a game in the South Division, but USC beat Utah head-to-head. Utah needs to win out or have USC lose a game to preserve its division lead. UCLA is one game behind Utah and plays Utah this week. USC plays UCLA in the Battle for Los Angeles (and the Victory Bell) on Nov. 23.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

Clemson has won the ACC Atlantic Division.

Virginia leads the ACC Coastal Division, but Virginia Tech and Miami are still in the hunt. Virginia Tech plays Virginia on Nov. 29.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

Georgia is in control of the East Division and needs one more win to clinch. Georgia plays at Auburn this Saturday in one of the week’s bigger games. Georgia finishes its SEC schedule on Nov. 23 against Texas A&M.

LSU is in control of the West Division and needs two more wins to clinch.

BIG TEN CONFERENCE

Ohio State plays Penn State on Nov. 23, with the winner being likely to win the Big Ten East Division.

In the Big Ten West, Minnesota can take a huge step toward winning the division by beating Iowa on the road this Saturday. If Minnesota beats Iowa, it can clinch the division by beating a very bad Northwestern team on Nov. 23. If Minnesota loses to Iowa, Wisconsin – which plays Minnesota on Nov. 30 – will have a chance to win the division if it wins each of its remaining games.

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