The first season of major conference expansion has produced an intriguing set of championship games this week, and not only because they will determine which teams get automatic bids and first-round byes in the College Football Playoff.
Four of the nine games Friday and Saturday match teams that already squared off in the regular season. Texas-Georgia in the Southeastern Conference game in Atlanta is one of those rematches and also one of two games matching teams in the top five of The Associated Press college football poll.
Each of the Power Four games will include a team that wasn’t in that conference last season. Three of the newcomers were in their previous league’s championship game last year — Oregon (Pac-12), Texas (Big 12) and SMU (American).
And not unexpected with so much change on the college sports landscape, there will be a couple of first-ever meetings: Arizona State-Iowa State in the Big 12 and SMU-Clemson in the ACC.
All championship games are Saturday except in the American Athletic, Conference USA and Mountain West, which will be played Friday.
No. 1 Oregon (12-0) can lock up the top seed for the CFP with a win over No. 3 Penn State (11-1) in the Big Ten game in Indianapolis. The Ducks went unbeaten in the regular season for the second time — they also did it in 2010 — and will meet the Nittany Lions for the first time since the 1995 Rose Bowl.
No. 2 Texas (11-1) gets another shot at No. 5 Georgia, which beat the then-No. 1 Longhorns 30-15 in Austin on Oct. 19. The winner will get the SEC’s automatic CFP bid; the loser likely will be an at-large selection. That could lead to a third meeting of the teams.
No. 12 Arizona State (10-2) plays No. 16 Iowa State (10-2) in the Big 12 game in Arlington, Texas. The Sun Devils, first-year Big 12 members and picked to finish last in the 16-team league in the preseason poll, have won seven more games than a year ago under second-year coach Kenny Dillingham. Iowa State has won 10 games for the first time in its program’s 133-year history.
No. 8 SMU (11-1) faces No. 18 Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference game in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mustangs won the American Athletic Conference title last year and went unbeaten in league play in their first season in the ACC. Clemson (9-3) made it to the championship game with help from Syracuse, which upset Miami on Saturday.
There are three rematches in the Group of Five championship games.
No. 19 UNLV (10-2) faces No. 10 Boise State (11-1) on the blue turf in Boise, Idaho. The defending champion Broncos won 29-24 in Las Vegas on Oct. 25.
Ohio (9-3) plays defending champion Miami (Ohio) (8-4) in the Mid-American Conference game in Detroit. The RedHawks beat Ohio 30-20 on Oct. 19 and have won seven straight after a 1-4 start. The Bobcats have won five in a row.
Jacksonville State (8-4) and Western Kentucky (8-4) will play for the second time in seven days when they meet in the Conference USA game in Jacksonville, Alabama. Western Kentucky won 19-17 on Lucas Carneiro’s 50-yard field goal with three seconds left Saturday.
Army (10-1) hosts Tulane (9-3) in the AAC game in West Point, New York. The teams will play for the first time since 2020. Tulane, the conference runner-up last year, has won four straight and is 13-9-1 all-time against the Black Knights, who are in their first year as a football-only AAC member.
Marshall (9-3) visits Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) for the Sun Belt game. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won the only two previous meetings, in 2021 and ’22.
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“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this report.
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