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With the USC Trojans clinching the Pacific-12 Conference South Division title by virtue of the Utah Utes upsetting the Colorado Buffaloes on December 12, all the Power Five championship game matchups became official.
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) unveiled their updated projections for the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conference Championship Games, and the team rankings in this article are using Sunday’s AP Poll.
Before we dive in, here is how ESPN defines the FPI.
“The FPI is a measure of team strength meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season.
“FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI results from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete.”
Taking place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-0) will battle the No. 4 Clemson Tigers (9-1) at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday on ABC.
The FPI gave Dabo Swinney’s Tigers a 70.7 percent chance to prevail victorious.
This will be the second meeting this fall between these two programs, with the Irish winning, 47-40, in double-overtime in South Bend on November 7. However, Clemson was without star junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence in that game due to a positive coronavirus (COVID-19) test.
In the SEC, the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-0) will face the No. 11 Florida Gators (8-2) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday on CBS.
Seeking their second conference title in the last three years, the FPI gave Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide an 89 percent chance to win this tilt.
Alabama last played Florida in the 2016 SEC Championship Game, a game the Crimson Tide handily won, 54-16.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Teddy Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. In addition to his work here, he has covered the Michigan Wolverines for GBMWolverine and Wolverine Digest. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.
