College football winners and losers: Assessing the conference title races with 3 weeks to go
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Week 11 did not deliver the chaos. Unless you were in the ACC.
While No. 8 BYU, No. 20 Iowa and No. 22 Missouri lost, No. 14 Virginia, No. 15 Louisville and No. 23 Washington were the only ranked teams to be upset over the weekend.
Even though the week was devoid of major upsets outside of the ACC, it did give us some clarity in the conference title races with three weeks to go in the regular season. Here's a look at how the power conference races stand as well as a bonus look at the American Conference as it's the conference most likely to produce the top-ranked Group of Five team in the College Football Playoff rankings.
ACC
The contenders
Virginia (5-1)
Georgia Tech (5-1)
Pitt (5-1)
SMU (5-1)
Duke (4-1)
Louisville (4-2)
Biggest game: Pitt at Georgia Tech (Nov. 22)
The ACC is currently sitting fourth among the four power conferences. It's been an ugly season. But on the bright side, it should sort itself out better than most other conferences even after the two upsets that shook up the standings on Saturday. Virginia plays at Duke in Week 12 and Louisville visits SMU in Week 13 after playing Clemson in Week 12.
Georgia Tech has to be considered the favorite by playing at home vs. Pitt after traveling to a Boston College team that’s 0-6 in ACC play and 1-9 overall. Virginia’s luck in one-score games ran out at home against Wake Forest on Saturday night, as the Cavaliers snapped a seven-game win streak with a 16-9 loss. QB Chandler Morris missed the second half of the game because of an injury.
American
The contenders
Navy (5-1)
South Florida (4-1)
Tulane (4-1)
North Texas (4-1)
East Carolina (4-1)
Memphis (4-2)
Biggest game: South Florida at Navy (Nov. 15)
The American is still wide open after Tulane’s win at Memphis and USF’s win over UTSA on Thursday night. Don’t count out North Texas, either. The Mean Green have games at UAB, at Rice and vs. Temple remaining. The Mean Green should be significant favorites in all three of those matchups.
Remember, Navy’s game vs. Army on Dec. 13 does not count for playoff or American title game purposes. The Midshipmen also visit Memphis after playing South Florida.
Big 12
The contenders
Texas Tech (6-1)
BYU (5-1)
Cincinnati (5-1)
Houston (5-2)
Utah (4-2)
Arizona State (4-2)
Biggest game: BYU at Cincinnati (Nov. 22)
Texas Tech is the clear frontrunner in the Big 12 after its convincing win over BYU on Saturday to end the Cougars’ undefeated season. Though Houston, Utah and Arizona State — the only team to beat the Red Raiders so far this season — are still alive in the conference race, the Red Raiders’ likely Big 12 title game opponent will be the winner of BYU’s trip to Cincinnati. Tech and Cincinnati don’t face each other this season and the Red Raiders have West Virginia and UCF remaining on their schedule. Those two teams have a combined Big 12 record of 3-10.
Big Ten
The contenders
Indiana (7-0)
Ohio State (6-0)
USC (5-1)
Oregon (5-1)
Michigan (5-1)
Biggest game: Ohio State at Michigan (Nov. 29)
The Big Ten title scenario has looked very straightforward for weeks. Ohio State and Indiana have appeared to be on a collision course for the title for a long time, though Indiana’s comeback win against Penn State on Saturday at least made it possible that someone else could take the Hoosiers’ place in the Big Ten championship game.
Indiana hosts Wisconsin and Purdue to end the season; those teams are a combined 1-12 in Big Ten play. We know one of USC and Oregon will finish with at least two conference losses as the two play each other on Nov. 22. But barring an unexpected loss from the Buckeyes or Hoosiers, that game won’t matter. And if Michigan beats Northwestern and Maryland, the Wolverines’ game against Ohio State will be for a spot in the conference title game.
SEC
The contenders
Texas A&M (6-0)
Alabama (6-0)
Georgia (6-1)
Ole Miss (5-1)
Texas (4-1)
Biggest game: Texas at Georgia (Nov. 15)
Yes, it’s possible that Texas’ visit to Georgia could ultimately not matter at all in the conference title race if both Texas A&M and Alabama finish undefeated. But if the Aggies stumble against South Carolina or Texas and Alabama slips up against Oklahoma or Auburn, the winner of that game could find itself playing for the conference title in Atlanta again.
Texas A&M easily beat Missouri on Saturday to move to 9-0. The Aggies host the Gamecocks in Week 12, as Alabama hosts Oklahoma before Texas plays Georgia. We’ll have an even better idea of how the SEC race is unfolding a week from now.
Here are the rest of this week's winners and losers.
Winners
James Madison: Don’t count the Dukes out of the College Football Playoff race just yet. JMU is now 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the Sun Belt after a 35-23 win at Marshall on Saturday. Alonza Barnett III was 14-of-24 passing for 270 yards and three touchdowns and has thrown at least two scores in each of his last four games. JMU has games remaining against Appalachian State, Washington State and Coastal Carolina along with a potential Sun Belt title game. The Dukes won’t have the schedule strength of other Group of Five teams, but a 12-1 season could put them in the mix for a playoff spot if the American Conference’s contenders keep beating each other up.
Tulane: The Green Wave went to Memphis and won 38-32 on Friday night in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated for much of it. Tulane led 38-17 at the end of the third quarter, but Memphis got to the Tulane 30-yard line with two minutes to go before turning the ball over on downs. QB Jake Retzlaff was 16-of-23 passing for 332 yards and three touchdowns. Tulane held Memphis’ run game to just 67 yards on 29 attempts as the Green Wave are now 4-1 in American Conference play and one of the favorites to make it to the conference title game.
UConn: Did you know the Huskies now have more wins against ACC opponents (3) than Florida State (2) does since the start of the 2024 season? UConn beat Duke 37-34 at home on Saturday to move to 7-3 overall. Joe Fagnano was 27-of-39 passing for 311 yards and three touchdowns as Duke QB Darian Mensah turned the ball over three times. With games against Air Force and FAU remaining, a 10-win season with a victory in a bowl game is in within real reach for a team that has scored at least 34 points in each of the last five games.
Missouri State: The Bears are bowl-eligible in their first season at the top level of college football after taking down Conference USA power Liberty 21-17. Jacob Clark threw a 13-yard TD pass to Tristian Gardner for the game-winning TD with 27 seconds left. Missouri State is now 6-3 overall and 4-1 in Conference USA with a real chance to make the conference title game. Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State are both still undefeated in conference play, but Missouri State visits Kennesaw State on Nov. 22.
Losers
Florida: It was pretty, pretty bad for the Gators in Lexington on Saturday night. Kentucky scored the final 35 points of the game in a 38-7 win over the Gators. Florida committed four first-half turnovers and QB DJ Lagway was benched in favor of freshman Tramell Jones Jr. after throwing three interceptions. The loss drops the Gators to 3-6 overall as they need to beat Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida State to get to a bowl game under interim coach Billy Gonzales. Yeah, Florida is probably not heading to the postseason.
Colorado: There will be no bowl for the Buffaloes after the 2025 season. Colorado fell to 3-7 on the season with a 29-22 loss at West Virginia. Colorado is now 1-6 in Big 12 play and could finish at 1-8 with games against Arizona State and Kansas State to end the season. Freshman QB Julian Lewis was 22-of-35 passing for 299 yards and two touchdowns, but was also sacked seven times. Lewis made the first start of his career on Saturday and was the third Colorado QB to start a game this season after Kaidon Salter and Ryan Staub.
Maryland: A season full of promise has gone sideways quickly for the Terrapins. After starting 4-0, Maryland has now lost five straight games after losing 35-20 at Rutgers on Saturday. Rutgers RB Antwan Raymond rushed for 240 yards and Athan Kaliakmanis threw four TDs as Maryland squandered 305 rushing yards of its own. QB Malik Washington had eight carries for 164 yards thanks to a 73-yard run and the Terps averaged 10.5 yards a carry as a team. Maryland needs two wins from games at Illinois, vs. Michigan and vs. Michigan State to get to a bowl game.
UMass: The Minutemen are staring at being the worst FBS team of 2025. UMass lost 44-10 at Akron on Tuesday night to fall to 0-5 in MAC play and 0-9 overall. Just two of UMass’ nine losses have been by one possession and one of those was a 27-26 defeat to FCS-level Bryant. The loss to Akron was the fifth defeat of at least 30 points, too. Games remaining against Northern Illinois and Bowling Green do present opportunities to steal a victory or two, however.
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