With the college football regular season wrapped up, that means Conference Championship Weekend is on tap. This year’s slate takes place on Friday and Saturday, featuring nine total games.
While everyone will focus on the Power Four title games of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12, the Group of Five shouldn’t be overlooked. No, it won’t have as much bearing on the College Football Playoff (CFP), but there are a number of intriguing storylines.
Here’s a primer on the Group of Five conference championship games.
Conference USA: Kennesaw State at Jacksonville State (Friday 7 p.m. ET)
Kennesaw State is looking to make history in this contest, while Jacksonville State is looking to hold onto its history. KSU just joined the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in the 2024 season, as it’s hoping to become the second team ever to win a conference championship in its second FBS season. The first? That was JSU last season.
Thus, the Gamecocks are seeking back-to-back CUSA championships, and they’ll lean on running back Cam Cook to get there. Cook leads the nation with 1,581 rushing yards and has at least 116 scrimmage yards in every game this year. He ran for 132 yards in Jacksonville State’s Nov. 15 victory over Kennesaw, as the latter’s quarterback, Amari Odom, had three interceptions and zero touchdowns in that contest. Odom has 17 touchdowns versus three interceptions in all other games this season, so his play could be the biggest determinant in who prevails.
Sun Belt: Troy at No. 25 James Madison (Friday 7 p.m. ET)
JMU has more at stake as it could land the fifth and final spot in the CFP with a win, plus a Virginia loss in the ACC title game. With that added incentive, the Dukes are 22-point favorites, and you can understand why, given these programs’ recent histories. James Madison is 21-3 at home since moving to FBS in 2022, while Troy is 1-27 all-time versus AP-ranked teams on the road.
But Troy does have a fighting chance and may have the single best player on the field come Friday. Pass rusher Donnie Smith was the No. 1 junior college player at his position in last year’s class, and he hasn’t disappointed in his first year with the Trojans. He leads the Sun Belt Conference with nine sacks, and protecting the QB was JMU’s biggest problem in its lone loss of the year when it allowed four sacks to Louisville on Sept. 5.
American: No. 24 North Texas at No. 20 Tulane (Friday 8 p.m. ET)
This is the Power Four Title Game with the most bearing on the CFP, as the winner will get a spot in the 12-team playoff. Another caveat of this matchup is that both teams’ head coaches are on the way out as each has been hired at Power Four programs, though they will coach the rest of this season.
North Texas has the best offense in the country, topping the nation in both points per game (46.8) and yards per game (511.8). What it doesn’t have is history on its side. The Mean Green haven’t won any conference championships in 21 years, and they’ve struggled in the postseason—they’ve lost their last seven bowl games.
Tulane doesn’t have the offensive firepower of UNT, but the Green Wave are 3-0 all-time versus North Texas. Tulane also has experience on this stage—it’s in its fourth straight American Conference Championship Game (1-2 record), while this is North Texas’s first appearance.
Mountain West: UNLV at Boise State (Friday 8 p.m. ET)
These programs are meeting for the Mountain West Championship for the third straight year, with Boise winning the prior two. This is just the fourth time any conference has seen teams meet in three straight title games, and this is Boise’s fourth straight MW title game overall. The Broncos have won 10 straight games versus UNLV, including a 56-31 win in Week 8. Boise also owns a 20.7-point average margin of victory over its seven all-time home games (7-0 record) versus the Rebels.
But there is hope for Dan Mullen and UNLV, starting with the fact that Boise State’s starting quarterback, Maddux Madsen, is returning from injury but hasn’t played in over a month and could be rusty. UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea leads the conference in a number of passing categories, including yards, touchdowns, and passer rating. He is also one of four QBs in the nation with at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards.
Mid-American: Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan (Saturday noon ET)
Miami has won the last two matchups, including a 26-17 victory on Oct. 25, but Western Michigan has the location edge with Saturday’s game taking place at Ford Field in Detroit. Neither team is overly prolific on offense as both hang their hats on the defensive side of the ball. Miami has seven takeaways over its last three games, has allowed just 2.2 yards per rush over its last two games, and its 324 yards allowed per game are its fewest since 1998.
WMU counters with a pass-rushing demon in Nadame Tucker, whose 12 sacks rank second in all of college football. The Broncos have given up just 14.7 points over their last seven games (6-1 record), with as many picks (six) as passing touchdowns allowed. One overlooked part of Western Michigan’s success is its discipline. WMU didn’t commit a single penalty in its October game versus Miami, and just nine teams in FBS averaged fewer penalty yards per game than the Broncos.
