2025 College Football: Conference Championship Takeaways
Welcome to the conference championships! For most of these teams, this is the big goal. A select few have CFP dreams. I’ll be covering each of the 9 FBS title games (no Pac-12 once again*), so expect a long article. Therefore, I’m not going to do specific CFP and draft sections here. I’m writing a separate article with my final CFP picks before the official announcement on 12/7 at noon EST, and the draft will be the main focus of the months ahead. The games below are sorted in order of occurrence (soonest first). All we have left are the playoffs and the bowls, and I’ll be analyzing those too! Below are my conference championship takeaways.
*Editor’s Note: I guess you could say that Washington State “wins” the Pac-2 with their odd in-season home-and-home sweep of Oregon State, the league’s only other member. Next year we’ll return to 10 title games though as the Pac-12 is reloading with a bundle of Mountain West imports (and oddly Texas State).
Sun Belt: (25) James Madison 31, Troy 14
Fun fact: the Sun Belt is the only conference in the FBS that’s still using divisions instead of jumbling all the teams together. With all the insanity happening in the ACC, maybe this is the league that got it right. Regardless, one stupid rule that the conference couldn’t get rid of was the one stating that new FBS teams can’t play in conference championship games. Otherwise James Madison might’ve won the Sun Belt a couple of years ago. This year, they got their shot, even though HC Bob Chesney is leaving for UCLA as soon as the Dukes’ season is over. Perhaps that contributed to JMU’s uncharacteristically slow start?
The Dukes could simply not catch a pass. I lost count of how many drops their receivers had. Their defense made life miserable for Troy as well though, and the game began with 7 punts. On the 7th boot, Evan Crenshaw shanked a 26-yard duck from his own end zone. Normally a great punter, that seemed weird, but what really happened was even weirder: JMU fans were chucking snowballs at him as he kicked! The AD told his fans to stop, but I would’ve thrown a flag. It set up the first points of the game: a field goal. That kick was important, as both teams scored 14 points in the second quarter and nothing else for a while thereafter.
Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter, and it was all driven by JMU. QB Alonza Barnett III (10/25, 93 yards, TD, INT; 12/85/1 rushing) had a tough day through the air, and it didn’t even help that RB Wayne Knight (21/212/1) had a brilliant game. Their defense had to step up and definitely did. They notched 8 sacks, with 5.5 from the star edge tandem of Sahir West (3) and Xavier Holmes (2.5). When Barnett threw an INT after his arm was hit, the defense shut down Troy and forced a missed FG. When JMU fumbled on the next drive, they forced a 3-and-out. However, Troy QB Goose Crowder went down with an ankle injury on the drive.
Crowder (15/34, 196 yards, rush TD) missed the first chunk of the season with a broken collarbone, so seeing him on crutches here was heartbreaking. Experienced backup Tucker Kilcrease (1/5, 7 yards) came in, but he had no chance against this ferocious defense. JMU finally scored an offensive TD, and when the Trojans attempted a desperate 4th and 19, West strip-sacked Kilcrease, and LB Drew Spinogatti scooped it up for an exclamation point of a score. With Duke’s ACC win, the Dukes are almost certainly going to be a CFP team. This will be a great opportunity to prove themselves against a Power 4 blue blood.
Conference USA: Kennesaw State 19, Jacksonville State 15
Many conference championship games are rematches, and this was one of them. A few weeks ago, Jacksonville State won in Kennesaw by nabbing 4 takeaways. This time, each team turned the ball over just once, but it was still a defensive struggle. The Gamecocks’ one turnover, an end zone INT thrown by QB Caden Creel (12/21, 96 yards, INT; 18/112/1 rushing), temporarily shifted the momentum, as Kennesaw State proceeded with an 11-play, 80-yard TD drive for the only points of the half. They would’ve had more, but QB Amari Odom (26/32, 276 yards, TD) committed intentional grounding to run out the second quarter.
The Owls bounced back nicely with a field goal drive to start the third, and JVST missed one of their own right after that. It was one of the many red zone failures by the Gamecocks, who also got stuffed on 4th down inside the 20. Kennesaw State nearly busted the game open 17-0 early in the 4th quarter on a 4th-down sneak by Odom. Inexplicably, the refs called him short. Upon review, where he clearly reached the end zone, the play stood. An angry Owls defense stuffed a run for a safety on the very next play, but points were lost. The issue was compounded when KR Davis Bryson fumbled the ensuing free kick.
Jacksonville State finally got going, scoring a TD and then another. The officials assisted again by missing an illegal motion foul by the Gamecocks on the second score. WR Deondre Johnson, a 6’8″ beast who’s evolving beyond his one-trick deep threat game, made a one-handed snag for 2. JVST suddenly led 15-12. As KSU tried to drive down for a tying or go-ahead score, a bad sack (one of five delivered by the Gamecocks’ defense) knocked the Owls out of FG range. Faced with a 4th and 14, Odom scrambled left and darted for a gain of 15 before throwing for the winning score. Two years ago, KSU was an FCS team. Today, they’re C-USA champs.
AAC: (20) Tulane 34, (24) North Texas 21
This was arguably the most consequential game of the weekend. It was the only one where you had a guarantee: the winner is for sure in the CFP, while the loser is definitely out. At first, North Texas seemed poised to make it a shootout. They scored immediately, but their poor defense allowed Tulane to answer immediately. The Mean Green drove once more, but RB Caleb Hawkins (7/20) lost a fumble in FG range, and things spiraled from there. Tulane scored just two plays later, and they wouldn’t trail again. In fact, the Green Wave scored the game’s next 31 points, with a 17-0 second quarter proving decisive.
Two major flaws undid North Texas. First, their high-powered offense became a turnover machine. QB Drew Mestemaker (21/34, 294 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) had 3 of them, while two other players lost fumbles to bring the total to 5. Conversely, Tulane didn’t give the ball away once. Second, the Green Wave dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage. They sacked Mestemaker 5 times and held UNT to 3.6 yards per carry. On offense, QB Jake Retzlaff (13/22, 145 yards; 15/49/2 rushing) didn’t have to throw much because he ran with such ease, as did RB Jamauri McClure (22/121/1). The huge holes let Tulane hold a 10-minute TOP advantage.
North Texas made a valiant comeback attempt late, but a desperate end zone INT fittingly ended their evening. Credit Tulane for that: UNT hadn’t scored less than 31 points in a game all year until this game. The ramifications here are immense. Both teams’ coaches are leaving after the season, so this was the last game at UNT for Eric Morris (bowls don’t count apparently). Tulane, after coming so close last year, has won the AAC and a CFP bid. In a hilariously ironic situation, the Big XII result means that Retzlaff will be in the CFP, but his old BYU team likely won’t. For anyone who knows the backstory there, it’s kind of delicious.
Mountain West: Boise State 38, UNLV 21
Don’t ask me how the teams playing in this game got chosen. The Mountain West tiebreaker rules are pure metric madness. Arcane rules chose the same two teams that played for this title last year, which was bad news for UNLV, who came in on a 4-game losing streak to the Broncos. A fumble by the Rebels on their very first drive showed us how this game would go, at least in terms of the score. The real surprise was that Boise State came out slinging the ball around. Having QB Maddux Madsen (17/31, 289 yards, 3 TDs, rush TD) back from injury was clearly a factor, but this is typically a run-first team.
The plan caught UNLV off guard. Madsen threw 3 first-half TD passes in a 21-0 blitz. The running game was working too, with RBs Dylan Riley (21/75) and Sire Gaines (9/64/1) carrying the load. Meanwhile, UNLV’s offense was completely out of sync. QB Anthony Colandrea (18/38, 225 yards, TD; 12/66/1 rushing) was basically the team’s RB. He led the Rebels in rushing and was totally scattershot as a passer. To their credit though, UNLV calmed down and made a charge, scoring 21 of the next 28 points to cut BSU’s lead to one score. As soon as that happened though, the Broncos put another TD on the board and salted the game away.
Once James Madison won the Sun Belt, the Mountain West’s long-shot playoff hopes were officially dashed. I think only UNLV could’ve stolen the bid, so their loss made that a moot point. Boise State just has their number. Let’s not take anything away from year 1 of the Dan Mullen era though. He won more games this year (10) than any other first-year coach, and his Rebels are set up for success. The story here though is Boise State. Despite losing RB Ashton Jeanty to the NFL and their QB to injury for part of the year, they three-peated in their conference anyway. That’s a model of consistency. Let’s see if they can do it in the Pac-12.
MAC: Western Michigan 23, Miami OH 13
I don’t really have a ton to say about this one because it wasn’t a fair fight. That’s all because of the actions of Miami QB Dequan Finn. Or should I say former Miami QB Dequan Finn? On November 14, Finn left the Redhawks program to focus on NFL draft preparation. I don’t understand this at all. Finn is a 7th-year senior who’s a UDFA prospect. Abandoning your team before a conference title game is the WORST thing you can do for your stock. Poor freshman Thomas Gotkowski (7/17, 92 yards) had to be thrown into the fire, and it didn’t go well. He threw with confidence but not accuracy, and he couldn’t keep his offense on the field.
That, along with an alarming strong of DPI penalties by the Redhawks defense, allowed WMU to build a massive time of possession edge. Though they “only” had the ball for 10 more minutes than Miami overall, they hoarded it during the first half. Miami’s defense became fatigued, and the Broncos’ running game took over. Both QB Broc Lowry (8/13, 111 yards; 23/65 rushing) and (especially) RB Jalen Buckley (19/193/2) carried the rock effectively and helped build a 16-6 halftime lead. Miami changed QBs at the half, but senior Henry Hesson (7/20, 107 yards, TD) immediately fumbled and was even less accurate than Gotkowski.
Credit is due to the Western Michigan defense. They earned 4 sacks with 2.5 from DE Nadame Tucker, and they bottled up Miami’s rushing attack (2.4 YPC) to force their backup QBs to throw. WMU has arguably been the MAC’s best team all year, so they’re deserving champions. The Redhawks ended up having a good season following a rough start, but you hate to see it end this way. Nearly the entire roster fought to the last second, but one man selfishly hung them out to dry. Miami didn’t have much of a chance, but they competed and can hold their heads high. However, it’s WMU who takes home the trophy.
Big XII: (4) Texas Tech 34, (11) BYU 7
In another championship rematch, BYU had the chance to prove that their blowout loss to Texas Tech a few weeks ago was a fluke. They came in with a boost: HC Kalani Sitake actually opted to stay at the school despite interest from Penn State. Usually, the Cougars are slow starters. Maybe the emotion from their coach’s loyalty had an effect, because they took their 1st possession 90 yards for a TD. That was the first points allowed by TTU on an opponent’s first drive all season. After that early 7-0 lead, it felt like this time would be different for BYU. Then I remembered North Texas’ 7-0 lead a night earlier and tempered my expectations.
Sure enough, the Cougars didn’t score another point, as Texas Tech’s vaunted defense proved their mettle. Once the Red Raiders came back to take a 10-3 lead, BYU got a bit desperate. They fake punted on 4th and 7 at their own 42 and failed miserably. TTU missed the ensuing FG, so it didn’t cost the Cougars. However, it told Texas Tech that they had BYU right where they wanted them. BYU QB Bear Bachmeier (16/27, 115 yards, 2 INTs) struggled just like in the last matchup. He faced a ton of pressure despite only taking two sacks (with one by David Bailey extending his FBS-leading total to 13.5). Turnovers really sunk the Cougars though.
In total, BYU coughed up the ball 4 times. LB Ben Roberts earned both picks for TTU, which turned into a TD and a missed FG for the Red Raiders. Cougars LB LJ Martin (19/76/1; 7/31 receiving) had a decent game but lost a fumble. Bachmeier lost a fumble himself on a strip sack. Texas Tech was simply unstoppable on defense. I didn’t love the way TTU’s offense played though. The numbers for players like QB Behren Morton (20/33, 215 yards, 2 TDs) and some of the skill players looked good, but it was a fairly disjointed attack. Most of their points came off of short fields, and the Red Raiders are still subpar in the red zone.
While TTU will undoubtedly need to be more consistent offensively to go far in the CFP, the fact is that they’re nonetheless Big XII champs for the first time in program history. Their big offseason cash investment paid off, and they’ll have a top-4 seed plus a first-round bye. BYU was the one with more at stake here, and they came up empty. Ranked 11th, they had to win the Big XII to earn a CFP spot. This effort won’t give the committee any reason to jump them over other two-loss teams either. It’s the Red Raiders who will be moving on, and their defense is the prime reason why they’re serious national championship contenders.
SEC: (3) Georgia 28, (9) Alabama 7
Alabama probably came into this game with a ton of confidence as a result of their week 5 win over Georgia. In addition, under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs have struggled mightily against Alabama. His record is worse against them than against any other team. However, things have changed since that first meeting. The Crimson Tide have looked highly inconsistent on offense, while Georgia has improved in all phases. Their offense is humming, and the defense once again resembles the dominant unit we’ve come to expect from the Bulldogs. From the onset, we knew that this game would be completely different (in UGA’s favor).
Without injured RB Jam Miller, Alabama couldn’t run the ball at all. Even if you take sack yardage out of the equation, the Crimson Tide had less than 25 yards on the ground. Even balanced offenses struggle against Georgia. When you’re one-dimensional, you’re in for a bad day. If not for a garbage-time drive aided by a multitude of UGA penalties (they had 80 penalty yards to Alabama’s 5), the Tide would’ve been shut out. QB Ty Simson (19/39, 212 yards, TD, INT) had a tough day at the office, mainly due to pressure. He took 3 sacks and plenty more hits. Third downs (3/14) didn’t treat them well this time around either.
Georgia’s offense had a slow start, but a blocked punt by Cole Speer jump-started the unit (special teams even favored the Dawgs). QB Gunner Stockton (20/26, 156 yards, 3 TDs; 13/39 rushing) continued his stretch of efficient and effective play, and 10 different Bulldogs caught passes. UGA scored 7 points in each quarter, remaining remarkably consistent. After building a lead, Georgia could tee off on Simpson, and once they get in that mode, they’re really tough to stop. The most surprising part is that this game wasn’t ever particularly competitive. Georgia simply looked that much better than Alabama.
The CFP implications of this game are really interesting. For Georgia, it’s simple: they locked in their first-round bye and will be ranked 3rd or 2nd (depending on what the committee does with Ohio State). Alabama is in a more precarious position. I think they jumped to 9th last week so there would be an excuse to drop them but not kick them out of the bracket. That needs to be the case. I don’t have Alabama as a top-10 team, but they were officially #9. Bouncing them from the CFP would tell any bubble team to skip conference championship games to preserve their playoff positioning. You absolutely cannot send that message.
Big Ten: (2) Indiana 13, (1) Ohio State 10
#1 vs. #2 for a conference title, a potential Heisman trophy for the winning QB, and the top seed in the CFP. What more could a football fan want? Well, maybe some offense. I can’t really criticize these offenses though: both defenses were special. Each QB threw a first quarter INT. Indiana took theirs for a first-strike FG, while Ohio State converted theirs into a TD. The offensive lines performed very well in the run game. IU’s Kaelon Black (16/69) and Roman Hemby (13/52) both had good games, while OSU’s Bo Jackson (17/83) continued to look like one of the best true freshmen in the nation. In the passing game, the D-lines dominated.
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza (15/23, 222 yards, TD, INT) looked shaky to start. He took 3 sacks and probably felt a bit discombobulated because one of his favorite WRs, Omar Cooper Jr, left with an ankle injury before making a catch and did not return. Buckeyes QB Julian Sayin (21/29, 258 yards, TD, INT) bounced back from his early INT just like he did against Michigan. However, even with two great WRs like Jeremiah Smith (8/144) and Carnell Tate (4/45/1) to throw to, Sayin couldn’t overcome the relentless pressure he faced. Indiana sacked him 5 times and probably could’ve had more if not for some great escapes by Sayin.
Nonetheless, Ohio State led 10-6 at the half because their own defense played so well. Announcer Gus Johnson also jinxed IU kicker Nico Radicic into missing his first FG of the season. The Hoosiers remained in the game though, and they played a stellar second half. Mendoza led a masterful 88-yard drive in the 3rd quarter, using WR Charlie Becker (6/126) to great effect before throwing a go-ahead TD to his favorite target, Elijah Sarratt (3/37/1). OSU hadn’t trailed in the second half for a single second this year. Against Indiana, they couldn’t even convert a third down until the 3rd quarter. Cignetti’s defense didn’t relent.
Ohio State reached the red zone twice on their final two full drives. Both marches went 70 yards or more and took at least 6 minutes. However, they both resulted in 3rd-and-1 situations that the Buckeyes failed to convert. On their two 4th-down tries, OSU failed twice. They got stuffed on the first one, and K Jayden Fielding hooked a 27-yard FG attempt on the second. Mendoza fired a daring 3rd-and-6 bomb to Becker for a 33-yard gain that nearly put the game away, and Indiana punted with just 18 seconds left. That was no problem for the defense, which didn’t let the Buckeyes come anywhere close to scoring.
How do I know that Indiana has arrived? Last year, this would’ve been a shocking result. In 2025, two College Gameday hosts actually picked the Hoosiers to win, and we all knew that an IU victory was possible. Even against the undefeated reigning champs, OSU wasn’t expected to crush Indiana. The Hoosiers played with confidence and poise, earning a well-deserved Big Ten title outright for the first time since World War II. They also staked their claim to the #1 ranking. Other consequences include a drop for OSU (but not below the bye line at #4 I imagine) and a Heisman edge for Mendoza. Welcome to the big time Indy!
ACC: Duke 27, (17) Virginia 20 (OT)
Poor ACC. The doomsday scenario that faded but then resurfaced fully played out in the final conference championship game of the weekend. We had a 5-loss Duke team with a chance to win the ACC, but a 34-17 drubbing a few weeks earlier by Virginia probably assuaged some of those fears. One group of people who had no fear whatsoever was the Duke Blue Devils. HC Manny Diaz made his team very aggressive, and I think that was the correct approach. What did Duke really have to lose here? All of the pressure was on Virginia to save the ACC’s hopes, so controlled risk-taking had a chance to seriously pay off for the Blue Devils.
That mentality was a double-edged sword at the start. A 4th-down conversion led to a TD on the opening drive, but QB Darian Mensah (19/25, 196 yards, 2 TDs, INT) then threw a reckless interception that allowed UVA to quickly tie the game. The risks eventually paid off more consistently though. A fake punt, a 3rd-and-14 conversion, and another 4th-down success led to a drive on Duke’s next series. The drive extensions provided by these decisions allowed the Blue Devils to dominate the time of possession battle in the first half. Even the defense played with major fire, which messed with Virginia’s offense.
In the third quarter, with Duke leading 14-10, the conference finally put their thumb on the scale as expected. Facing 4th and 2 at the UVA 7, Duke drew the Cavaliers offside. However, a false start was called, forcing an FG attempt. That was a clear example of the ACC refs skewing things in Virginia’s favor to save their CFP chances. Duke added another FG following a pick thrown by QB Chandler Morris (21/40, 216 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) before surrendering one to UVA. Still down 20-13, the Cavaliers got the ball back and moved quickly down the field thanks to some foolish penalties by the Duke secondary. Then the refs got involved again.
Following a 4th-down conversion, Morris threw an 18-yard TD to WR Eli Wood (3/30/1) to cap a 96-play drive. However, Wood was pushed out of bounds before making the catch. He re-established himself, but he stayed in the white area for several steps, so the ruling of a force-out was false. Wood should not have been allowed to be the first to touch the ball, but the officialls allowed the score. With that, we were treated to the first OT game in ACC Championship history. Virginia, who already had 3 OT wins on their ledger this season, won the toss and (correctly) chose to play defense first. Duke had to put their misfortune behind them.
I credit the Blue Devils, as that’s exactly what they did. They settled down and went back to their forte: the run game. RB Nate Sheppard (21/97/1; 5/31 receiving) took 3 carries right down to the 1, but the team curiously went away from him for the next 3 downs. On 4th and goal, Mensah bought time and threw a go-ahead TD, with a roughing penalty on Virginia causing them to start at the 40. It didn’t matter: Luke Mergott picked Morris off to win the game on their very first offensive snap. The Cavaliers really blew their (and the ACC’s) shot at the CFP. Congrats to Duke for a great conference slate, but they can’t get into the playoffs.