Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame lead conference title game winners and losers

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

No. 10 Alabama never sniffed No. 3 Georgia in a 28-7 SEC championship game loss that could drop the Crimson Tide out of the College Football Playoff on the last day of the regular season.

That they rose one spot in the penultimate playoff rankings, swapping spots with No. 9 Notre Dame, suggested the Tide had the wiggle room to lose to Georgia and still make the tournament.

Part of that optimism stemmed from Alabama’s head-to-head win in late September. But there was a window of opportunity for Miami, ranked No. 12 in the playoff, that hinged on Alabama getting demonstrably outplayed by Georgia — and that’s exactly what happened.

Now the selection committee could be forced to make an incredibly difficult decision for the last at-large spot between Alabama and Miami.

There are two more games on Saturday night that will impact the final playoff rankings and the makeup of the entire tournament.

The top overall seed is on the line in the Big Ten championship game between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana. But the loser shouldn’t fall too far, likely still drawing a top-four seed and a bye through the opening round.

There’s the chance for some last-minute chaos over in the ACC, where five-loss Duke meets No. 16 Virginia. Now that No. 19 James Madison has completed a one-loss regular season with a Sun Belt crown, a Duke win against the Cavaliers could result in the ACC being left out of the 12-team field.

With just those two games left in the regular season, here are the winners and losers from conference championship weekend:

Winners

Georgia

Georgia won the SEC for the second year in a row and looks like the league’s best shot at the national championship. Continuing a trend that began more than a month ago, the Bulldogs’ defense clamped down on the Crimson Tide and helped carry the load for an offense that failed to crack 300 yards for the second game in a row. Georgia will be the No. 2 seed in the final playoff rankings regardless of what happens in the Big Ten.

Miami and Notre Dame

That the debate for the last at-large spot should come down to Alabama and Miami is good news for Notre Dame, which is able to avoid having the loss to the Hurricanes relitigated on Selection Sunday. Miami lost twice, to Louisville and SMU, and fell short of the ACC championship game. But the Hurricanes’ case would be bolstered by a Duke win against Virginia, since they’d be the best contender from the ACC. While it’s possible, the committee will be wary of leaving out a Power Four league altogether; that’s where Miami could come into play.

Texas Tech

Beating BYU 34-7 for its first Big 12 title locks Texas Tech into one of the top four seeds and a bye through the opening round. There’s a chance the Red Raiders could earn the No. 3 seed based on what happens in the Big Ten championship game; should Indiana win, Ohio State is likely to drop two spots at most, which would keep the Red Raiders in the No. 4 spot. Looking back at the regular season, Tech has been easily one of the most dominant teams in the Power Four, losing just once — how this team lost to Arizona State is still a mystery — and beating every other opponent by at least 22 points. The Raiders beat BYU in two games by a combined 63-14 score.

Tulane

The No. 21 Green Wave beat No. 20 North Texas 34-21 on Friday night thanks to a plus-five turnover margin that yielded two defensive touchdowns and left a short field for two additional scores. That helped aid a furious 17-point second quarter capped by a short touchdown run by quarterback Jake Retzlaff as time expired in the first half. Keeping possession for over 35 minutes was huge: North Texas was sloppy but still averaged 6.1 yards per play, the most Tulane’s defense had allowed in almost a month. With the win, the Green Wave will earn the Group of Five’s one guaranteed playoff berth as either the No. 11 or No. 12 seed, depending on what happens in the ACC.

James Madison

And the ACC will be under the spotlight on Saturday night after James Madison took care of Troy 31-14 to finish an unbeaten romp through the Sun Belt. This may be the last game for coach Bob Chesney, who was hired at UCLA and replaced by former Florida coach Billy Napier. Here’s the score: JMU should be in the playoff as the fifth conference champion if Duke wins the ACC. But Virginia will bump JMU out of the tournament by beating the Blue Devils.

Kennesaw State

Kennesaw State beat Jacksonville State 19-15 on Friday night to take home the Conference USA championship and complete an eight-win jump from last season in coach Jerry Mack’s debut. The former Championship Subdivision power hit a speed bump in the transition to the Bowl Subdivision but is back on track under the former Tennessee assistant. Ahead 12-0 early in the fourth quarter, the Owls dropped behind 15-12 before going 75 yards on 11 plays and scoring the game-winning touchdown with 51 seconds to play.

Western Michigan

Western topped Miami (Ohio) 23-13 to capture the program’s first MAC championship since 2016 and fourth overall. The Broncos dropped three in a row out of the gate to Michigan State, North Texas and Illinois but have lost just once since, to the RedHawks in late October. Along the way, WMU beat every other MAC opponent to finish the regular season with a winning record in conference play.

Losers

Alabama

Down 14-0 at halftime, the Tide fell behind 21-0 after three quarters and didn’t score until a Ty Simpson touchdown pass a few minutes into the fourth. Overall, Alabama gained 209 yards, had -3 yards rushing and committed one turnover, not counting a blocked punt that led to Georgia’s first score and failed two fourth-down conversions. But sloppy and ineffective play has been the story for Alabama since early November. After beating No. 24 Tennessee comfortably, the Tide barely beat South Carolina, was pedestrian against LSU, lost to No. 8 Oklahoma and needed a late score to win the Iron Bowl. Truthfully, this hasn’t looked like a playoff team for about a month. Combine an uncompetitive loss on Saturday with a sluggish home stretch to the regular season and you have the ingredients to get left out of the playoff.

Brigham Young

BYU was in the playoff with a win but will have no shot at an-at large bid with the loss. That’s a disappointing way to end another banner season for a program clearly on a rocketing trajectory under coach Kalani Sitake, who recently rebuffed overtures from Penn State in favor of a contract extension. There are good building blocks for next season on the roster and reason to think the Cougars will again be in the mix for the playoff. But this year’s team twice ran into the Texas Tech buzzsaw.

North Texas

Two painful gut punches in one: First, the loss to Tulane costs North Texas a playoff trip, and two, the loss also marks the final game for Oklahoma State-bound coach Eric Morris. The Mean Green moved quickly to hire his successor in former West Virginia coach Neal Brown; that’s a strong hire and should keep North Texas as a factor in the American. But this was a special season, and special seasons don’t come around very often.

UNLV

For the third year in a row under two different coaches, UNLV reached the Mountain West championship game but came up short to Boise State. This year’s 38-21 loss was basically done at halftime and the Broncos holding a 28-14 lead, though they didn’t put the game away until a short touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. This was still a strong year for new coach Dan Mullen.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football winners, losers include Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos