Week 13 Preview: Conference Races, Bowl Chases

November 14, 2018 by Dave Congrove

Northern Illinois clinched the MAC West on Tuesday night, even though the Huskies weren't playing. Ball State upset Western Michigan 42-41 in overtime when the Broncos failed on a 2-point conversion attempt in the extra stanza. The loss eliminated WMU from the divisional race. Northern Illinois hosts the Miami RedHawks tonight while another MAC game - Buffalo at Ohio - could determine the East division champion as the Bulls clinch with a victory.

Thursday night features a big game in the American conference when Tulane visits Houston. It wasn't long ago that the Cougars were sailing toward the West division title with a 4-0 conference record, but they head into this week's game hoping to end a costly 2-game losing streak (SMU, Temple). Those losses dropped Houston into a 3-way tie with SMU and Thursday's opponent, the Green Wave.

Another big game in the American conference takes place on Saturday night when Cincinnati visits UCF as the feature game on ABC. If the Knights bag their 23rd straight win, they clinch the East division crown. If the Bearcats win, chaos ensues as the division becomes a 3-way battle with UCF, Cincinnati and Temple, and all three schools will be 1-1 vs. each other.

Pitt can clinch the ACC Coastal division with a win at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Utah State and Boise State both need wins this week over Colorado State and New Mexico, respectively, to set up next Saturday's showdown in Boise as the de facto MWC Mountain division championship game. The Aggies visit Colorado State on Saturday while the Broncos head to New Mexico on Friday.

Utah, Arizona and Arizona State enter the week tied in the PAC-12 south standings. The Utes have already defeated Arizona, but lost to Arizona State, so the Sun Devils completely control their own destiny as they can claim the crown with wins over Oregon and Arizona in the final two weeks. ASU is a 2.26-point computer favorite at Oregon on Saturday, while Utah gets a 13.60-point nod at Colorado.

Conference and Division Races

Clemson, Northwestern, UAB, Georgia and Alabama are the only teams that have clinched a berth in their conference championship game. Here is how every conference and division looks after Tuesday night's game.

American - UCF or Cincinnati (East) vs. Houston, SMU or Tulane (West)
ACC - Clemson (clinched Atlantic) vs. Pittsburgh (most likely, but Virginia is still in it.)
Big Ten - Michigan or Ohio State (East) vs. Northwestern (clinched west)
Big 12 - Oklahoma vs. West Virginia (most likely, but Iowa State and Texas still in it.)
CUSA - FIU or Middle Tennessee (East) vs. UAB (clinched West)
MAC - Buffalo (most likely, but Miami and Ohio still in it) vs. Northern Illinois
MWC - Utah State (Mountain) and Fresno State (West) control their own destiny.
PAC 12 - Washington or Washington State (North) vs. Utah, Arizona or Arizona State (South)
SEC - Georgia (clinched Eastern) v.s Alabama (clinched Western)
Sun Belt - Troy and Louisiana-Monroe control their own destiny.

Bowling For Dollars

65 teams have reached 6 wins to attain bowl eligibility and 22 others are knocking on the door with 5 wins. 78 spots are available.

Buffalo and Syracuse are each definitely bowl-bound for the first time since 2013. Louisiana-Monroe is eligible for the first time since 2012 at 6-4. Tulane is on the cusp of its first bowl bid since 2013 with a 5-5 record.

The longest current bowl absence streak belongs to Kansas (2008).

Ole Miss (5-5) is ineligible due to NCAA probation.

The newest kid on the block, Liberty (4-5), locked down a two-year bowl agreement with the Cure Bowl before it ever played a down of FBS football. The contract for 2018 and 2019 says the Flames will be called upon as the first backup option if the American and Sun Belt conferences can't fill their available slots in the bowl.

Let's Beat Up On Cupcakes

The SEC holds its annual "let's beat up on cupcakes week". Alabama is an absurd 70.27-point favorite over The Citadel, while Florida is favored by 47.30 over Idaho. Florida is a 47.30-point pick vs. Idaho, and South Carolina is a 50.18-point choice over UT-Chattanooga.

Even those SEC schools that aren't playing FCS schools have seemingly easy matches. LSU is favored by 47.82 versus Rice; Auburn by 36.56 vs. Liberty, Georgia by 44.52 vs. UMass, There's also Kentucky by 16.81 vs. MTSU,

There a three conference games with Mississippi State favored by 23.39 at home over Arkansas, Vanderbilt by 2.49 hosting Ole Miss, and Missouri by 12.27 at Tennessee

FBS vs. FCS

6 games this week pit FBS schools against FCS members. Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Army, North Carolina and Old Dominion all face FCS schools.

FBS teams are 97-7 (.933) vs. the FCS this season, and 1,316-124 (.914) since 2003.

Here are all of the FCS victories over FBS teams, so far, in 2018:

August 30: 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

UCF - Won 22 straight overall (FBS longest), Won 15 straight conference games including AAC title last year (FBS longest). Hosts Cincinnati on Saturday.

Alabama - Won 24 straight home games (FBS longest). Hosts FCS member The Citadel on Saturday.

Oklahoma - Won 19 straight true road games (FBS longest). Hosts Kansas on Saturday.

Rice - Lost 10 straight overall (FBS longest). Visits LSU on Saturday.
(NOTE: Rice also owns the longest current conference game losing streak at 14.)

Charlotte - Lost 12 straight road games (tied FBS longest). Hosts FIU on Saturday.

San Jose State - Lost 12 straight road games (tied FBS longest). Hosts Nevada on Saturday.