This weekend out picks are going to go separate because we would like to talk about each championship game because almost all of them have major implications.
SEC Championship, 4pm ET, CBS
#2 Alabama vs. #3 Georgia
My initial thought is to go with Alabama in this game. The Tide has been much more consistent over the course of the season than the Bulldogs and it seems like you know what you're going to get from week to week. Georgia has largly been a mystery to me this season and is a team with incredible upside, but they've rarely been able to put it all together in a way that gives me much confidence. That said, I think they've got more upside than Alabama and are more than capable of pulling off the upset today. I see this game going one of two ways- Alabama comes in and steamrolls this Georgia team that is not locked in and ready to play, or Georgia is locked in and for the first time this season puts it all together and shows us all what they're capable of. Logic says pick the Tide.
-Jeremy-Georgia, 34-31
-Nick- Alabama, 27-24
B1G Championship, 8:17pm ET, FOX
#12 Nebraska vs. Wisconsin
Good grief... flip a coin. The B1G has been an absolute nightmare to pick this season and just when it seems like you've got it figured out something happens and you're back to square one. Nebraska is the winner of six straight to get into this game and beat Wisconsin 30-27 earlier this season. The Badgers have lost three of four and are only in this game because Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible. The Huskers have one of the best rushing attacks in the nation and I think they'll be able to ware down Wisconsin. This one is close, but I think Nebraska is the better team and will get the win.
-Nick- Nebraska, 27-17
-Jeremy- Nebraska, 27-24
ACC Championship, 8pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN
#13 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech
Thank goodness the BCS Title game is going to be at the Orange Bowl this season, because I'm sure the potential ACC-Big East matchup of Georgia Tech-Louisville is making bowl officials nauseous and, wouldn't it be just like the ACC this year to lay an egg and send a team that had to petition for bowl eligibility to the Orange Bowl? This is possible, but not likely. I think Orange Bowl officials will be smiling with the matchup of Florida State-Louisville. I believe the Seminoles are just too talented and too well coached to lay an egg two weeks in a row. They're coming off a bad loss at home to the rival Gators last week, where I think they were exposed a bit, but I think they'll be ready for GT's option attack and take care of the Yellow Jackets.
-Jeremy- Florida State, 38-24
-Nick- Florida State, 45-17
#6 Kansas State vs. #18 Texas, 8pm ET, ABC
Kansas State has had the week off to lick their wounds and heal up after a devastating loss to Baylor that knocked the Wildcats out of the No.1 spot and out of the BCS Title race. I think Bill Snyder will have his team firing on all cylinders this evening and I predict Collin Klein will have a statement game against a shaky Longhorns defense. UT had been playing well and were the winners of five straight before getting beat, at home by a young TCU team last week and now Texas seems to have more questions marks as they head in to this matchup with K-State. With a win, K-State will win the Big-12 and I think they go in and take care of business.
-Nick- K-State, 38-28
-Jeremy- Kansas State- 44-34
#11 Oklahoma @ TCU, 12pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN
This looks to be a great game, with both teams coming off great wins a week ago. Oklahoma pulled out a come from behind victory in the Bedlam Game, while TCU played one of its best games of the season going to Texas and take care of the Longhorns. Oklahoma looks to be an easy favorite against a very young Horned Frogs team, but like I said, TCU got a statement win last week and grew up a lot last week. I think TCU can pull off the upset if they can keep it close. I'm taking the upset.
-Jeremy- TCU, 24-23
-Nick- Oklahoma, 35-24
#15 Oregon State vs. Nicholls State, 2:30pm ET, Pac-12 Network
No doubt Oregon State would have much rather scratched this game and played in the Pac-12 Title game last night, but this is where they're at. A make-up game from week 1, Oregon State finishes their season against FCS, Nicholls State. Not much to say here. OSU should take care of business and finish their season with a win, going into bowl season.
-Nick- OSU, 38-14
-Jeremy- OSU, 41-13
#20 Boise State @ Nevada, 3:30pm ET, ABC
This Nevada team has been a thorn in the side of the Broncos for a few years now, having knocked them out of a few possible BCS births and a couple would be undefeated seasons. You never know what could happen to the favored Broncos as they travel to Nevada but I don't see another upset on the horizon this week. While this Boise State team isn't playing for a BCS birth, they are looking to lock up a MWC title and I don't see them slipping up this week.
-Nick- Boise State, 35-21
-Jeremy- Boise State, 31-20
#23 Oklahoma State @ Baylor, 12pm ET, FX
On your mark... Get set... GOOOO!!! This looks to be an absolute track meet as both teams have explosive offenses and no interest in playing defense. Both teams have put up big numbers on what were thought to be good defenses- OK State went for 48 on Oklahoma last week, while Baylor drubbed K-State for 52 two weeks ago. Chances are we'll see close to 1500 yards of offense and 100 total points scored. I think OK State wins but not before some serious fireworks.
-Jeremy- OK State, 56-51
-Nick- Oklahoma State, 52-45
MAC Championship: No. 21 Northern Illinois (11-1, 8-0 MAC) vs. No. 17 Kent State (11-1, 8-0 MAC), 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
What better way for the MAC to end the season with two 11-1 squads going at it. Both of these teams are very solid with their own strengths. To start with both teams have excellent rushing attacks. NIU has the ninth-best rushing attack in the country averaging 245 yards per contest, Kent State is no slouch either rushing the ball with the 11th-best running game in the country averaging nearly 242 yards per game. Both teams feature 1000-yard rushers, but the Golden Flashes have two. Dri Archer and Trayion Durham have rushed for 1337 and 1176 yards, respectively, and both have14 touchdowns on the season. Northern Illinois has one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country in Jordan Lynch who has 1,611 yards rushing this season and 16 touchdowns. Lynch not only has rushed for 1500-plus yard, but has thrown for 2750 yards and 23 touchdowns. No doubt NIU has the better quarterback with Lynch having 4,361 yards and 39 total touchdowns. What could create a problem for the Huskies is that if Lynch is off or if Kent State really slows him down they do not have much behind him to pick up on the offense. One good thing for the Huskies is they are 12th in the country in points per game at 40.5 and 15th in points against 17.5. NIU is also on an 11-game heater with its only loss of the season coming by one point to Iowa the first week of the season. Kent State statistically is worse allowing 23.5 points per game (37th) and scoring 34.4 (35th), but I think this team is more balanced and should be able to come away with a win. I fully expect this game to be close and be decided by a touchdown or less.
-Nick, Kent State, 35-31
-Jeremy, Kent State, 41-34
Pac-12 Championship: No. 16 UCLA (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) vs. No. 8 Stanford (10-2, 8-1 Pac-12), 8 p.m ET, FOX
This has been a very tough game for me to breakdown because these teams just played last weekend. Stanford looked like the much better team in last weekends match up winning 35-17, but it is always difficult to beat a team twice in a season, especially twice in two weeks. This game, for me, comes down to the defensive fronts, Stanford has one of the best front sevens in the country if not the best and one of the most talanted running backs in the country in Stepfan Taylor. Stanfords numbers aren't goddy or out of this world but their defense allows just 16.9 points per game which is the 11th-best in the country. On offense they do not wow you either but Taylor has quietly had a great season rushing 278 times for 1,364 yards and 11 touchdowns. UCLA does not wow you either ranking in the 30s in both passing offense (32, 279.5 yards per game) and rushing offense (34, 196.2 yards per game) but that is a very balanced attack. UCLA has a solid front four but if you get passed the front four the back seven is not as great tacklers. One thing UCLA has going for it is a pretty solid quarterback in Brett Hundley who has thrown for 3,234 yards and 26 touchdowns. That being said I still think Stanford is disipline enough to get it done two weeks in a row and head on to the Rose Bowl. Stanford should win a closer game than last week.
-Nick, Stanford, 31-28
-Jeremy, UCLA, 34-31
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