Championship games overreactions: Say goodbye to conference title games

Conference championship games are an institution. Few weekends are more exciting, as some of the best teams in college football take the field to realize their dream of winning a trophy.

Conference championship games still mean a lot. Just ask Duke, which won its first ACC title in more than 60 years on Saturday night. Or Indiana, which beat the best team in the country in its first appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game. Or James Madison, who probably earned a College Football Playoff bid by winning the Sun Belt. Or Tulane, which similarly clinched a playoff bid by winning the American.

These moments always matter. Unfortunately, conference championships also come with downsides and what schools would likely call “unnecessary risk” in the modern era. Alabama, for example, entered Week 15 as a virtual seed for the playoffs.

Now the Crimson Tide’s prospects are on life support after being walked by Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Ohio State lost in the Big Ten title game, but that doesn’t matter: The Buckeyes will still be a top-four seed and still have a first-round bye.

Fernando Mendoza took the hit and got up. Next up: a Heisman and more confetti?

John Talty

At some point, the sport’s biggest programs are going to realize that, whether to avoid an injury or a disastrous outcome, they would be better off skipping their league’s title game. It will be a sad day, but it seems inevitable.

Curt Cignetti is the best coach in college football

There are coaches with more conference titles than Curt Cignetti. There are coaches who have made more playoff appearances. Some active coaches have won a national championship.

But what Cignetti does clarifies everything. Prior to his arrival at Indiana, the Hoosiers had just one winning record in a full 12-game season from 2008-23. Indiana entered the 2025 season with more all-time losses (715) than any other FBS team.

The Hoosiers had never won more than 10 games in a single season. They had never been to the Big Ten championship game and hadn’t had a share of a conference title in 80 years.

Cignetti led Indiana to its first 11-win campaign last season. The Hoosiers went on to a 12-0 record and on Saturday night beat No. 1 Ohio State for the Big Ten title. They will almost assuredly supplant the Buckeyes as the top seed in the College Football Playoff bracket and their validity as a national title contender is not in doubt.

Cignetti built Indiana from the ground up to where it is today. This is one of the most impressive coaching jobs we’ve ever seen, and there’s plenty of reason to believe he’s the best boss in college football right now.

Alabama does not have a place in the playoffs

Alabama will most likely make the College Football Playoff based solely on the fact that it is Alabama. If the Crimson Tide were left out, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey would throw a tantrum of biblical proportions, and we just can’t have that.

Take the logos out of the equation and it’s obvious that Alabama has no business making the College Football Playoff. Not only have the Crimson Tide been bad over the past month, but they also suffered the worst loss — their season-opening upset at the hands of Florida State, which has beaten three Power Four teams this season — among the programs on the bubble.

If this game took place at any point on the schedule outside of Week 1, Alabama would already be eliminated. So let’s take the latest results into consideration. Alabama lost 28-7 in the SEC championship game on Saturday. Granted, it was against a Georgia team that the Tide beat in the regular season.

Including that regular season win, Alabama has scored seven points in its final six quarters of action against the Bulldogs. Saturday’s result moved Alabama to 2-2 against FBS opponents since early November with a record of 0-2 against currently ranked opponents during that span.

The Crimson Tide’s victory included a completely uninspiring effort against a rudderless LSU team and a seven-point shave against an Auburn team that went 1-7 in SEC play. Not exactly the stuff of suitors.

Alabama’s Record Strength (10) always is behind BYU (9). And if we want to punish BYU, which was 11-1 in the regular season to Alabama’s 10-2, for looking uncompetitive against a higher-ranked team (Texas Tech), the same logic should apply to Alabama during the selection process.

Otherwise, the committee does not care about fairness. He only cares about pleasing conferences with the best propaganda machine attached.

Texas Tech is a national title contender

The selection committee’s process so far seems to indicate that Georgia will be ranked second in the final bracket, if any team edges out Ohio State. In reality, the difference between numbers 1-4 is largely cosmetic. By the time these games roll around, all the teams are good.

That being said, Texas Tech deserves to land at No. 2, ahead of Georgia and Ohio State. Beyond that, the Red Raiders are legitimate national title contenders. Sleep on it at your own risk.

The defense, rightly so, is making headlines. Texas Tech has arguably the best linebacker duo in the country in Jacob Rodriguez and Ben Roberts. The defensive line is loaded with top-tier talent, including star runner David Bailey and interior force Lee Hunter. Texas Tech’s defensive personnel compare favorably to every other team on the field.

The offense also has some guys. Quarterback Behren Morton is rock solid, but his supporting cast is top class. Running back Cameron Dickey was a surprise star. It rarely falls on first contact. The receiving trio of Caleb Douglas, Reggie Virgil and Coy Eakin can give opposing secondaries nightmares.

Texas Tech will absolutely try to win the national title in this year’s playoffs and, as long as the investment remains, the Red Raiders aren’t going anywhere.