Not sure if you caught it, but last week, we didn’t have a Weekend Awards column here at Saturday Down South. The preparations of travel for the holiday season got to be too much, but it ended up not being the worst thing in the world… for the first time all year, I nailed my parlay of the week, correctly identifying 5 winners — Vanderbilt +2.5, Georgia money line, Texas +2.5, Ohio State money line and Alabama -5.5 — that would’ve won you damn near $1,000 if you bet 100 bucks on it.
Was that a result of not being burdened by an early week column? We’ll find out soon enough, because I’m back with my weekly awards, and I’ll be back with another parlay for Conference Championship Weekend as well.
Biggest Winner of the Weekend: LSU Tigers
Yes, LSU lost its regular-season finale to the Oklahoma Sooners, and yes, the Bayou Bengals finished their regular season with just 7 wins, but on Sunday, the 4-time national champions made an acquisition that will move them closer to title No. 5. With Lane Kiffin deciding to leave Ole Miss for LSU, the Tigers have officially moved their chips to the center of the table, ponying up big money to bring in a head coach who has proven he can win big in the SEC to Baton Rouge.
I’ll go on record right now: before this decade is over, Kiffin will have delivered a National Championship to LSU. Mark it down, write it in Sharpie, Geaux Tigers.
Biggest Loser of the Weekend: Auburn Tigers
So not only did Auburn fail to knock Alabama out of the SEC Championship Game — and potentially the College Football Playoff — in the Iron Bowl, but then the big hire the school made to inspire confidence and optimism within its fanbase was Alex Golesh, who has led South Florida to just a 23-15 record in 3 seasons despite having more NIL resources and geographical recruiting advantages than any other coach in the conference?
I’ll go on record right now: before this decade is over, Golesh won’t have led Auburn to more than 7 wins in a single season. Mark it down, write it in Sharpie, go Tigers (or rather, War Eagle).
Biggest (on-field) Winner of the Weekend: Vanderbilt Commodores
We’ve been hearing for years that Vanderbilt-Tennessee isn’t actually a rivalry because the Commodores have never actually threatened their in-state SEC counterparts as the best team in Tennessee, but thanks to Diego Pavia and Clark Lea, that all changed this year. The Dores went into Knoxville and blew the doors off of Neyland Stadium in a 45-24 win. Don’t look now, but Vandy has won 6 of its last 14 against the Vols. I think it’s officially time we start recognizing this as a legitimate SEC rivalry.
One last point on Vanderbilt… I have no idea if the Commodores are going to sneak into the College Football Playoff field. Actually, that’s a lie. I do feel pretty comfortable saying that the Fighting Pavia’s will probably be on the outside looking in, but I also know that Vandy was one of the 12-best teams I saw all season long, and with Clark Lea staying with the program for the foreseeable future, we might need to get used to saying that.
Biggest (on-field) Loser, but also maybe a stealth Winner, of the Weekend: Texas A&M Aggies
Okay, so I know that the Aggies would’ve loved the opportunity to, in one fell swoop, A) Beat Texas, B) Finish the regular season undefeated, and C) Advance to the SEC Championship Game, but their consolation prize for losing to the Longhorns on Friday night is getting an extra week of rest — which quarterback Marcel Reed could probably use after aggravating his ankle — and likely hosting a first round College Football Playoff game. Mike Elko‘s squad is going to be just fine.
Biggest News Outside of the SEC
Right until the bitter end, the ACC remained exceptionally weird, sending the Virginia Cavaliers and Duke Blue Devils to the ACC Championship Game this Saturday night despite the fact that most observers would possibly agree that Miami, Georgia Tech, SMU and Pittsburgh were all superior teams. I’m just gonna tell ya right now, I’ll be backing the Blue Devils this weekend because it would be the single weirdest outcome for the wackiest conference in the country.
Less than 24 hours after Indiana put a Hoosier State beating on the Purdue Boilermakers, Ohio State dug itself out of an early 6-0 hole in Ann Arbor to end up routing the Michigan Wolverines, setting up the game of the year in the Big Ten Championship — 12-0 vs. 12-0, perennial football powerhouse versus traditional basketball school to determine who will enter the 2025 College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed and the last remaining unbeaten team in the country.
Tulane advances to a very green American Athletic Conference Championship Game against the North Texas Mean Green on Friday Night, and they’ll be doing so with head coach Jon Sumrall having one foot out the door as he’s on his way to Gainesville to coach the Florida Gators. Unlike Lane Kiffin, Sumrall will be coaching his former team throughout the postseason, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes if it’s the Mean Green that prevails in the AAC title game. For the record, I believe this is a home-run hiring for the Gators.
After dropping their first 2 games of the season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have not just won 10 games in a row… they’ve steamrolled everybody in their path, defeating opponents by nearly 30 points per game during that winning streak. Even if I got ’em at home, I know I wouldn’t be super psyched to have to see the Irish in Round 1 of the College Football Playoff.
One Big Question Heading Into Conference Championship Weekend: Were wins by the Texas Longhorns or Vanderbilt Commodores enough to give the SEC another team in the College Football Playoff Field?
Alright, let’s break this down:
ACC Auto-Bid: Virginia Cavaliers or Duke Blue Devils
Potential ACC At-Large Bid: Miami Hurricanes
Big Ten Auto-Bid: Ohio State Buckeyes or Indiana Hoosiers
Potential Big Ten At-Large Bids: OSU/Indiana loser, Oregon Ducks
Big 12 Auto-Bid: Texas Tech Red Raiders or BYU Cougars
Potential Big 12 At-Large Bids: Texas Tech/BYU loser, Utah Utes
SEC Auto-Bid: Georgia Bulldogs or Alabama Crimson Tide
Potential SEC At-Large Bids: Georgia/Alabama loser, Ole Miss Rebels, Texas A&M Aggies, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns, Vanderbilt Commodores
Group of 5 Auto-Bid: North Texas Mean Green, Tulane Green Wave, James Madison Dukes
Okay, that’s a lot of information to handle, so let me try to simplify: What we know right now is that there will be 5 automatic bids and 7 at-large bids. For either Texas or Vanderbilt to feel like they have a chance going into Selection Sunday, they need to be hoping that Texas Tech handles business for a second time this season against BYU, and that Georgia avenges its early season loss to Alabama.
Assuming that chalk prevails elsewhere, that means we’re looking at Ohio State, Texas Tech, Georgia, Virginia and Tulane as our conference champions with 7 at-large bids remaining. I think it’s safe to say that Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma are locked into the field, along with — in this scenario — the Indiana Hoosiers, who would have just 1 loss on the season. That leaves Notre Dame, Miami, BYU, Utah, Alabama, Texas and Vanderbilt as the 7 teams that have legitimate cases for the remaining 2 at-large bids.
With all due respect to the state of Utah, I haven’t looked at either BYU or the Utes as a bonafide Playoff team at any point this season. Would I start a riot if either team did make the Playoff field? Of course not, but I can safely say that Notre Dame, Miami, Alabama, Texas and Vanderbilt all feel like Playoff teams.
Now the question is, were Texas’s and Vandy’s wins over Texas A&M and Tennessee enough this week to vault them ahead of Notre Dame and Miami in the College Football Playoff rankings? And if so, would an Alabama loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game drop the 3-loss Tide out of the field?
There’s plenty to be sorted out over the next 5 days, and I personally can’t wait to go along for the ride!
