Twistity Sports Exclusive: COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

 
By Sunday afternoon we will know the four participants in the first-ever college football playoff. The other major bowl games will then choose their contestants, the mid-tier bowls will collect the best of the rest, and who among us can even guess what the TaxSlayer Bowl is, where it’s played or who will play in it and why?

This is the weekend of the conference championship games. There are big ones and Big Ones.

In the SEC, No. 1 Alabama (11-1) and No. 16 Missouri (10-1) meet at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night. Bama coach Nick Saban and Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel played together at Kent State and then were graduate assistants there. When Saban left his coaching gig at the University of Toledo, he recommended Pinkel, who stayed 10 years and then moved on to Mizzou, where he has been for 14 years. They can be friends again after this game.

In the Pac-12, it’s a Friday night special between No. 2 Oregon (11-1) and No. 7 Arizona (10-2) in Santa Clara. Guess who handed Oregon its only loss? Yep, those pesky Wildcats.

The ACC title game on Saturday night in Charlotte pits No. 4 Florida State (12-0) against No. 12 Georgia Tech (10-2). FSU has won 28 consecutive games, but each win seems to drop it further in various polls. Tech’s spread option offense can wear out a defense and its own defense perked up down the stretch.

The Big Ten championship game matches No. 13 Wisconsin (10-2) and No. 5 Ohio State (11-1). OSU lost quarterback J.T. Barrett to a broken ankle last week. With a win, OSU might make that final quartet if one of the other four loses (or if FSU wins and drops again).

The Mountain West title game features Fresno State (6-6) against No. 22 Boise State (10-2). This one’s in Boise, and BSU has won seven straight. With a victory, BSU can count on playing in a New Year’s Day bowl game.

The Big 12 does not have a championship game per se, but the winner of No. 9 Kansas State (9-2) and No. 6 Baylor (10-1) claims at least a share of the title, or the outright title if somehow TCU loses to Iowa State. Baylor still has hopes of getting into the final four, and is galled to know it is behind TCU in the rankings despite a win over the Horned Frogs.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .