Ducks, ‘Horns book conference title game spots … For those that missed it last night, both Oregon and Texas, two teams sitting just on the outside of the 4 CFP playoff slots, booked their spots in their respective conference championship games next weekend with impressive wins. Oregon, for example, cruised to a 31-7 ‘Civil War’ win over cross-state rival Oregon State and will play Washington in the Pac-12 title game next Friday evening. In that game, Ducks’ QB Bo Nix continued his assault on the Heisman trophy as he carved up the Beavers to the tune of 33 completions on 40 attempts for 367 yards and a couple of TDs, while adding a 3rd on the ground. Meanwhile, #7 Texas, one spot behind Oregon in the CFP rankings, left nothing to chance by throttling Texas Tech 57-7. The Longhorns will face either Oklahoma State, if the Cowboys can defeat BYU later today, or Oklahoma if the Cowboys lose. Of note in that game, celebrated recruit Arch Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli, saw the first action of his career as he completed 2 of 5 passes for 30 yards in a mop-up role.
And just to repeat for anyone who spent Thanksgiving in another universe, THE big game of the year kicks off in just over two hours when #2 Ohio State plays at #3 Michigan an Noon ET on FOX. The winner almost assuredly will get the Big Ten’s spot in the CFP Playoffs, no matter what happens in next week’s conference championship against Iowa, while the loser could find itself on the outside hoping for some help from other teams. Again, here is our preview of who to watch in that game.
