What's at stake in every college football conference championship game

Conference championship weekend is here.

Nine conferences will decide their champions over Friday and Saturday. Four conference titles will be decided on Friday while the other five will be determined a day later.

Here’s what’s at stake for each of those games. Could a James Madison win on Friday coupled with a Duke win on Saturday drop the ACC from the College Football Playoff?

Troy at No. 25 James Madison

What’s at stake for Troy: The Trojans are in search of their ninth conference title and third in five seasons. Troy won back-to-back Sun Belt titles in 2022 and 2023 under new Florida coach Jon Sumrall. This year, the Trojans are looking to play spoiler as they are massive underdogs against James Madison. After back-to-back losses to Arkansas State and Old Dominion — the latter loss was 33-0 — Troy made the Sun Belt title game with wins over Georgia State and Southern Miss.

What’s at stake for James Madison: Don’t expect James Madison to show much mercy if they get out to a big lead over Troy. There’s no reason for JMU to not blow out the Trojans if at all possible given what’s on the line. A Duke win in the ACC title game likely puts these Dukes in the College Football Playoff with a conference title of their own. James Madison’s defense is one of the better units in college football and might be the best outside the four power conferences. JMU allows just 4.2 yards per play and 16 points per game.

Kennesaw State at Jacksonville State (Conference USA)

What’s at stake for Kennesaw State: It’s been an incredible two seasons for the Owls at the top level of college football. Kennesaw State went 2-10 in 2024 but got a win over Liberty in their first year at the FBS level. This year, Kennesaw State is 9-3 and playing for the conference title. KSU went 9-1 after losing by one point to Wake Forest to open the season and then in a blowout to Indiana in Week 2. The only loss in that span? A 35-26 defeat on the road at Jacksonville State.

What’s at stake for Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks have only been an FBS team for a season longer than Kennesaw State and are looking for their third nine-win season in three years. After taking over for Rich Rodriguez, Charles Kelly led the Gamecocks to another 7-1 conference record as JSU goes for back-to-back CUSA titles.

No. 24 North Texas at No. 20 Tulane (American)

What’s at stake for North Texas: The main objective is the same for both teams. The winner of this game is headed to the College Football Playoff. Both UNT and Tulane are ahead of James Madison in the CFP rankings and the winner will stay there. The American champ could even get the No. 11 seed in the CFP if Duke wins the ACC title game.

The Mean Green’s only loss of the season came in a 63-36 home defeat to South Florida that was filled with turnovers in an inexplicable second quarter. The Mean Green have won six straight since that loss and all of those victories have been by multiple possessions. Five of the six have even been by four scores. North Texas leads the country in scoring at nearly 47 points per game.

What’s at stake for Tulane: Both North Texas and Tulane are also hoping to send off their coaches in style. North Texas coach Eric Morris is heading to Oklahoma State after the season and Sumrall has been introduced as Florida’s new coach.

The Green Wave have won four straight since a 48-25 midweek loss at UTSA. Tulane is getting credit from the playoff committee for its win over Duke in Week 3 and, possibly, for scheduling Ole Miss a week later. Former BYU QB Jake Retzlaff has completed 63% of his passes and has rushed for as many TDs (14) as he’s thrown for. Retzlaff is the team’s leading rusher with 561 yards.

UNLV at Boise State (Mountain West)

What’s at stake for UNLV: The Rebels have already clinched back-to-back 10-win seasons and are hoping for the third 11-win season in school history. To put the last two years in perspective for UNLV, the school’s only 10-win season before 2024 came in 1984. UNLV is going for its second conference title in school history and is chasing 11 wins in consecutive seasons with different coaches. Barry Odom left UNLV for Purdue after 2024 and former Florida coach Dan Mullen was hired to replace him.

What’s at stake for Boise State: The Broncos are going for back-to-back conference titles even though they know that a playoff spot isn’t in the offing this season. It’s also the school’s last chance for a Mountain West title. Boise State is one of five schools leaving the MWC for the Pac-12 ahead of the 2026 season.

No. 11 BYU vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (Big 12)

What’s at stake for BYU: The Cougars are in the College Football Playoff for the first time with a win over the Red Raiders. It would cap off a great week for the program after coach Kalani Sitake said that he would stay at BYU amid interest from Penn State. BYU has won 23 conference titles in school history but thanks to its run of football independence in the 2000s, it hasn’t won a conference title since it won the Mountain West in 2007.

What’s at stake for Texas Tech: At No. 4 in Tuesday’s CFP rankings, Tech is almost assuredly in the playoff even with a loss to BYU. But the Red Raiders are going to have the backing of a very partisan crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. There’s going to be a lot of raucous red and black. And it could be the same scene in the College Football Playoff too. If Tech wins, the Red Raiders could get assigned to the Cotton Bowl after a first-round bye. Back-to-back games in the DFW metroplex would be a pretty nice postseason perk.

Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan (MAC)

What’s at stake for Miami (Ohio): The RedHawks are back in the MAC title game for the third consecutive season. Can they win a second in that span? In 2023, Miami upset Toledo with a 23-14 victory. A season ago, Miami was blitzed 38-3 by Ohio. This year, the RedHawks can say they’re fortunate to be in the title game. Miami won a three-team tiebreaker for second place in the conference despite losses to — you guessed it — Ohio and Toledo, the two teams it tied.

What’s at stake for Western Michigan: The Broncos are a win away from their best season since going 13-1 in 2016 and making the Cotton Bowl under current Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck. After Fleck’s departure to the Gophers, WMU has won eight games in just one other season. A win on Saturday accompanied by a victory in a bowl game would give the Broncos just their second 10-win season ever.

No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 9 Alabama (SEC)

What’s at stake for Georgia: A win guarantees a first-round bye for the Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff. It would also be Georgia’s third SEC title in the past four seasons. It also adds to what’s been an absurd run for Georgia under Kirby Smart. When you take out an 8-2 season in 2020, Georgia has won at least 11 games in eight straight full seasons. A win gives Georgia at least 12 wins in six of those eight seasons. This is an incredible run of success.

What’s at stake for Alabama: The Crimson Tide don’t have to sweat nearly as much on Sunday about the playoff since a win gets them in. A loss and, well, who knows with this committee. A season ago, no team that lost its conference title game fell out of the playoff field. Would that hold with Alabama too? Or could the No. 9 Tide drop two spots to No. 11 and fall out of the playoff entirely in favor of a team that didn’t play? The disaster scenario for Alabama is a loss coupled with a BYU win. It’s hard to see how Alabama would be in the playoff in that scenario.

No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Indiana (Big Ten)

What’s at stake for Ohio State: The Buckeyes entered last year’s playoff as the No. 8 seed before winning four games on the way to a national title. This year, Ohio State will probably skip the first round regardless of what happens on Saturday night. Whoever wins this game is the No. 1 seed in the playoff and heading to the Rose Bowl. Four more wins makes Ohio State — or Indiana — the first team in college football history to go 16-0. It’d be the 11th undefeated season in program history.

What’s at stake for Indiana: To say Indiana doesn’t have the football history that Ohio State does would be quite the understatement. The 2025 season was just the second time in school history that Indiana went undefeated in conference play. The other was 1945, when Indiana was 5-0-1 in the Western Conference. Heck, Indiana has only had one conference loss in just seven seasons. And one of those years was in 1905, when the Hoosiers played just two Western Conference games. It’s fair to state a Big Ten title would mean a bit more to an Indiana program that is starved for football success and is getting to experience what life is like at the top of the heap since coach Curt Cignetti’s arrival.

Duke vs. No. 17 Virginia (ACC)

What’s at stake for Duke: The Blue Devils have the opportunity to do the funniest thing and throw a wrench into the 12-team playoff with a win. OK, maybe a Duke win isn’t all that funny for ACC officials — you can bet that Duke fans will be hyper-aware of any controversial calls during Saturday’s game — but it’d be great for the idea that anyone has a chance to make the playoff now that it’s been expanded to 12 teams. Duke went just 1-3 in non-conference play with losses to Illinois, Tulane and UConn. Those three teams went a combined 27-9.

What’s at stake for Virginia: A victory would continue what’s been a dream season for Tony Elliott’s team. After just 11 wins over Elliott’s first three seasons in Charlottesville, Virginia can match that total with a win over Duke. Oh, and it would make the College Football Playoff too. Virginia’s last conference title came in 1995 as it won the league thanks to a head-to-head win over Florida State.