Big Ten, CUSA and PAC-12 Championship Matchups Finally Determined

December 1, 2019 by Dave Congrove

All ten conference championships are now set after Saturday's action saw Wisconsin clinch the Big Ten west, Utah claim the PAC-12 south, FAU take CUSA east, and UAB repeat in CUSA west.

Wisconsin was a emphatic 38-17 winner at Minnesota to earn the right to face Ohio State in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title.

Utah smacked Colorado 45-15 to secure the PAC-12 south division crown. The Utes will face Oregon.

In CUSA, five teams were vying for the two championship game spots on Saturday. In the end, FAU (9-3, 7-1) clinched the east division and home-field advantage by knocking off Southern Miss 34-17 in Boca Raton. UAB (9-3, 6-2) claimed the west division with a 26-21 win over North Texas. Louisiana Tech finished tied with the Blazers, but UAB owned the tie-breaker by virtue of the 20-14 upset of the Bulldogs in Birmingham a week ago.

Three division winners were decided on Friday - Virginia, Memphis and Central Michigan.

Virginia became the 7th different team among the 7 ACC Coastal members to claim the title of that division over the last 7 years. The Cavaliers joined Memphis (American-west) and Central Michigan (MAC-west) in punching their ticket to the next level.

Virginia advanced to the ACC Championship game versus Clemson via a 39-30 home win over Virginia Tech, ending a 15-game losing streak in the series.

The 34-24 home win by Memphis over Cincinnati sets up an American championship game next week between the same two teams in the same location.

Central Michigan caught a break on Tuesday when Western Michigan failed to claim the division when the Broncos suffered a 17-14 upset loss at Northern Illinois. The Chippewas stepped up and closed the deal on Saturday with a 49-7 rout of Toledo and will face Miami in the MAC Championship game..

Here is a look at each conference championship pairing.

American - Cincinnati at Memphis

Cincinnati clinched its first division title since the conference began staging a playoff in 2015. Memphis is 'in' for the third straight season.

ACC - Clemson vs. Virginia

The Tigers clinched their 5th straight division title. Virginia clinched its first.

Big Ten - Ohio State vs. Wisconsin

This is the 9th year of the Big Ten championship game. The Buckeyes are making their third straight trip to Indianapolis and 5th overall. The Badgers are making their 6th title game appearance after toppling Minnesota 38-17 in a de facto west division championship game on Saturday. Ohio State, which had already clinched the east, finished the season with a 56-27 romp at Michigan.

Big 12 - Oklahoma vs Baylor

This championship showdown in Arlington will feature the two teams that have won or shared the last 6 conference titles. The Sooners have won the last four in-a-row after Baylor won it outright in 2013 and shared the crown with TCU in 2014.

Conference USA - UAB at FAU

The FAU Owls won the conference championship in 2017, and the UAB Blazers are the defending champs.

Five teams were vying for the two championship spots on Saturday. In the end, FAU (9-3, 7-1) clinched the east division and home-field advantage by knocking off Southern Miss 34-17 in Boca Raton.

UAB (9-3, 6-2) claimed the west division with a 26-21 win over North Texas. Louisiana Tech finished tied with the Blazers, but UAB owned the tie-breaker by virtue of the 20-14 upset of the Bulldogs in Birmingham a week ago.

MAC - Miami vs. Central Michigan

Miami clinched the east for its first division title since 2010. Central Michigan last played for (and won) the championship in 2009.

Mountain West - Hawaii at Boise State

The Broncos clinched their third straight division title. Hawaii is making its first championship game appearance since the league began staging one in 2013.

PAC 12 - Oregon vs. Utah

Oregon clinched the north division for the first time since 2014, but the Ducks saw their Final Four hopes disappear in a 31-28 upset loss at Arizona State. In the west, Utah (10-1, 7-1) leads USC (8-4, 7-2) and can clinch the division at home next week with a win over Colorado. Idle USC gets with a Utah loss as the Trojans defeated the Utes earlier in the year.

SEC - Georgia vs. LSU

Georgia has clinched its third consecutive division title. LSU has its first division title since 2011.

Sun Belt - Louisiana at Appalachian State

The Sun Belt only began staging a championship game last year and Appalachian State downed Louisiana 30-19 in Boone. Same teams, same location for year two.

FBS vs. FCS

114 games this year pit FBS teams against FCS schools. That's two more than a season ago when FBS teams won 105 of 112 games.

FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) for the season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS schools are 1,435-127 (.919).

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2018
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Streaks

CLEMSON - Won 27 straight over-all (FBS longest). Won 29 straight regular season games (FBS longest) games. Won 21 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 22 straight home games (FBS longest). Won 12 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 38-3 at South Carolina on November 30.
Next: Plays Virginia in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte on December 7.

RUTGERS - Lost 21 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 27-6 at Penn State on November 30.
Next: Season complete.

AKRON - Lost 17 straight overall (FBS longest). Lost 8 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 52-3 at home to Ohio on November 26.
Next: Season complete.

SOUTH ALABAMA - Lost 15 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 34-30 at home over Arkansas State on November 30.
Next: Season over