It’s the biggest weekend of the college football season -- so far. Championship Saturday is here, with every FBS conference set to be sorted out by the end of the night. The FCS playoffs are also raging on during the afternoon, plus there’s a fun SWAC Championship matchup going on in the middle of the day. If you like football, you’ll like this day.
12/3 college football schedule: TV times, live streams, and the best games to watch
Here’s what’s going on during a packed Championship Saturday.
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
The Pac-12 and the MAC held their championship games on Friday night, but eight of 10 FBS leagues are still churning. The main event during the early part of the day isn’t technically a championship game, but it functions as one. Oklahoma State is trying to avenge a loss to rival Oklahoma in last season’s Bedlam game by beating the Sooners in Norman this year. It’s the regular season finale for both teams, and because of the Big 12’s standings, it’s basically a title game. Almost seems like the Big 12 doesn’t really need a championship game, huh?
The SEC Championship, between Alabama and Florida, is likely a formality. The Big Ten game doesn’t feature either of the conference’s two best teams, but Wisconsin-Penn State is nonetheless a good matchup. Clemson should beat Virginia Tech in the ACC, but you never know. In the FCS, North Dakota State starts its playoff run in an attempt to win a mind-boggling sixth national championship in a row, facing San Diego in a mid-afternoon game.
Only a few things here are must-watch. But lots of things are “could watch it and have a lot of fun,” and that’s really about what we’re shooting for on a weekend like this one. Some of them, undoubtedly, will be great. Here’s the entire schedule for the day, sorted into the Watchability Grid, with all times Eastern:
| - | Watch THIS | Maybe watch this | This is a football game |
| Noon | AAC Championship Temple at #19 Navy ABC, WatchESPN | Troy at Georgia Southern ESPN2, WatchESPN | |
| C-USA Championship LA Tech at WKU ESPN, WatchESPN | Kansas State at TCU FS1, Fox Sports Go | ||
| 12:30 | Unofficial Big 12 championship #10 OSU at #9 Oklahoma FOX, Fox Sports Go | ||
| 1 | New Mexico State at South Alabama WatchESPN | ||
| 2 | FCS: New Hampshire at JMU WatchESPN | ||
| FCS: YSU at Jacksonville State WatchESPN | |||
| 3 | UL Lafayette at ULM WatchESPN | ||
| FCS: Villanova at SDSU WatchESPN | |||
| FCS: Chattanooga at SHSU WatchESPN | |||
| 3:30 | Baylor at #16 WVU FS1, Fox Sports Go | ||
| FCS: San Diego at NDSU WatchESPN | |||
| 4 | FCS: Grambling at Alcorn State ESPNU, WatchESPN | SEC Championship #1 Alabama vs. #15 Florida CBS, CBSSports.com | |
| FCS: Central Arkansas at EWU WatchESPN | |||
| 5 | Georgia State at Idaho WatchESPN | ||
| 6 | FCS: Richmond at North Dakota WatchESPN | ||
| FCS: Wofford at The Citadel WatchESPN | |||
| 7:30 | Arkansas State at Texas State ESPN2, WatchESPN | ||
| 7:45 | MWC Championship SDSU at Wyoming ESPN, WatchESPN | ||
| 8 | ACC Championship #3 Clemson vs. #23 VT ABC, WatchESPN | ||
| Big Ten Championship #6 Wisconsin vs. #7 Penn State FOX, Fox Sports Go |
- My personal ranking of the Power 5 title games? Big Ten first, then unofficial Big 12, then ACC, then SEC. Alabama is going to do some really terrible things to Florida, and nobody's going to feel good watching this freight train ram full-steam into this parked car sitting on the tracks. Watch Grambling and Alcorn State instead, or take your dog for a walk. Do some pre-holiday cleaning, or whatever. If the game's close, you'll hear about it in time.
- Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech are playing, and that should be an offensive slugfest. Both teams are 40-plus points-per-game types, and defense will basically be optional. Insofar as points are good and championship football games are also good, so will this game. It will be good.
- I'm somewhat in on the Mountain West game. Wyoming is a cool story that plays fun football, and San Diego State is a bit up-and-down but a pretty solid team on the whole. The MWC will have to be our Pac-12 on Saturday, and the Pokes and Aztecs might deliver.
- The Sun Belt doesn't have a championship game (yet). That league doesn't have any major bowl tie-ins, so the national ramifications of the race aren't so big. But the Sun Belt does co-champions, which is at least quirky. Appalachian State's done and already has at least one share, and Arkansas State and Troy can join the party by winning their games. That would leave everyone at 7-1, and triple-champs seems like a thing CFB should have.
Notes!
See More:
