Utah, Baylor and Oklahoma Look To Stay The College Football Playoff Hunt

The college football regular season is finally over, but there’s still much to be decided before a new champion is crowned for the 2019-20. Enter the conference championship games. Specifically, the Power 5 conference championship games. This will be the final dress rehearsal if you will, for the four teams that are currently in the College Football Playoff (if it started today), and also for the small handful of teams that are on the outside looking in, waiting for an opportunity to impress just in case one of the top four slips up. That is very possible. At least one of the bubble teams will get a shot at that top four since LSU and Georgia will play each other, and the loser of that one may be out.

We’ll first take a look at the two championship games of the weekend whose combatants are currently on the outside looking in, the Pac-12 and the Big 12, respectively.

#14 Oregon Ducks (+190) vs. #6 Utah Utes (-250), o/u 48.5 (-114)
Oregon and Utah kick things off for championship weekend Friday night in Santa Clara, California. Oregon is coming off an awful defeat at the hands of Arizona State, a defeat that destroyed any dreams of getting into the CFP for the Ducks. This championship game for them is barely a consolation. Yes, if they win they will get a Rose Bowl bid, but in this day and age of college football as we know it, not winning a national championship or even making the playoff when you were poised to get into it, can only be seen as a failure. We don’t know what Oregon team will appear on Friday. Will it be the one that lost to a mediocre Arizona State team in a must-win game, or will it be the team that steamrolled through the Pac-12 while easily winning the North division? Utah, on the other hand, is the team that Oregon was two weeks ago. A team that still thinks it can crash the CFP party and be the lone representative from the Pac-12. They’re the conference’s last hope. You know what? They have a shot. Utah is such a complete team. They’re ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive yards per play, their quarterback Tyler Huntley has been a revelation (if he played in the Eastern time zone he’d be a Heisman candidate), and their defense is elite right now. Minus that one little hiccup at USC in week 4, they’d be undefeated. Utah knows with an impressive win here (i.e. a blowout), and a couple of good results from other games this weekend, they will at ​least ​have an argument to get into the CFP. The Utes lost this same game last year, and their mission this year was to get back to it, this time with a different ending. They’ll get that this time around. ​Utah -6.5 (-114) is the play here.

#9 Baylor Bears (+235) vs. #7 Oklahoma Sooners (-335), o/u 62.5 (-114)
This should be a great one. The 11-1 Bears take on the 11-1 Sooners in what will be a rematch of their November clash in which Baylor blew a 21-point second-half lead on the way to losing a heartbreaker 34-31. That’s the only blemish on their record, and the only thing keeping them from the CFP with a win here. So look for the revenge factor to play a small part in this game. Oklahoma, on the other hand, is still in the CFP picture, and with a second win over a top 10 ranked Baylor (this time with the Big 12 championship in tow), they will put themselves right back in the discussion if Georgia falters on Saturday. Add in a Utah loss to Oregon, and Oklahoma will very well be back in the CFP. This game should be a wide open affair. Oklahoma has one of the best offenses in the country, led by stud quarterback Jalen Hurts. It doesn’t matter if they’re running or passing, they are dynamic in both facets. Their defense, though better than last year, is still in that “bend but don’t break” mentality. They sell out to stop the run, which leaves them open to big chunk plays down the field; teams that can pass the ball will have some success (see Kansas State). Baylor has a lot of big-play ability on offense, namely in their running game. In the last meeting between the two teams, Baylor averaged 5.0 yards an attempt, but they only rushed 23 times. Maybe if they exploited that more, they win the game. The Bears’ defense is similar to Oklahoma’s in the vein of “bend but don’t break”, which, versus that Oklahoma offense, can be a scary proposition. Baylor concedes a lot of underneath passing, but tries to avoid the big plays that chew up yardage. Great in theory, but again, this is Oklahoma, so bad idea. This game will come down to how well the Baylor offense can keep up with Oklahoma’s offense. If they get down early and can’t make a stop here and there, then it’ll be a long night. The Sooners know with a win, they have a shot of getting into the CFP, so not much more motivation is needed than that. They brought Jalen hurts in to win games just like this one. Look for the Sooners to be the last team standing in Arlington, Texas on Sunday night, but look for Baylor to keep it close enough to cover the +9 spread (-114).

There’s your early look at the Pac-12 and Big 12 championship games. Both games should be vastly entertaining, so enjoy watching and good luck! And be sure to visit Sportsbook NJ for more opportunities to win, and the Sportsbook NJ blog for more betting tips and articles. 

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Richard W. Rodriguez/Associated Press