College football winners and losers: How the conference races stack up heading into the final week of the regular season

Week 13 was definitely wild.

Four top 15 teams lost Saturday as the College Football Playoff picture was significantly shaken up. No. No. 5 Indiana was blown out at No. 2 Ohio State to start the day before a four-way tie emerged atop the Big 12 and the SEC race was narrowed to three teams.

Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee were all eliminated from SEC title contention. The No. 7 Crimson Tide lost 24-3 at Oklahoma, hours after No. 9 Ole Miss lost 24-17 at Florida. Tennessee took care of business against UTEP and can still win 6-2 in the conference, but the tiebreakers aren’t kind to the Vols.

The chaos in the SEC means Georgia clinched a spot in the conference title game despite finishing fourth among the conference’s teams in the College Football Playoff rankings this weekend. The Bulldogs gave up plenty of rushing yards to UMass in their win on Saturday, but ended their SEC slate a week ago with their 31-17 win over Tennessee.

Here’s a look at how the conference races stack up heading into the final week of the regular season.

American

This game has been ready for two weeks now. Let’s move on.

ACC

The Hurricanes are coming off a win at Syracuse after beating Wake Forest 42-14 on Saturday. SMU clinched its spot in the ACC title game with a 33-7 win at Virginia as QB Kevin Jennings was 25 of 33 for 323 yards.

Big Ten

The Ducks exited in Week 13 after clinching a spot in the Big Ten title game with their win over Wisconsin in Week 12. Ohio State’s win over Indiana means the Buckeyes are in the title game with a win over Michigan. If Ohio State loses, Penn State has a win over Maryland. The Nittany Lions escaped Minnesota with a 26-25 win on Saturday. If both Ohio State and Penn State lose, Indiana will be in the title game with a win over Purdue.

Big 12

• Two from Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State, Colorado, Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech

This is where things start to get messy. We’ll start with the simple scenario. ASU, BYU, ISU and Colorado all sit atop the conference at 6-2. If there is a four-way tie at 7-2, the two participants in the conference title game will be Arizona State and Iowa State.

Colorado needs to lose two of the three other teams it is affiliated with to reach the title game thanks to losses to both Kansas State and Kansas. ASU and BYU have both already defeated K-State and Iowa State will play the Wildcats in Week 14. Baylor and Texas Tech must win in Week 14 and the four tied teams must lose. Kansas State must beat Iowa State, make the other three teams lose evenly, and make Baylor lose to Kansas.

USA Conference

This is also quite simple. Jacksonville State defeated Sam Houston to clinch a spot in the title game, while the Bearkats are now tied with Liberty after the Flames defeated Western Kentucky. Liberty plays Sam Houston in Week 14. If Liberty wins, it’s in. If Sam Houston wins and Western Kentucky wins, the Hilltoppers are in. Sam Houston enters with a win and a WKU loss.

MAC

All three teams are tied at 6-1 with Miami and Bowling Green playing each other on Saturday. The winner will enter and play against Ohio if the Bobcats beat Ball State. If Ohio loses to Ball State and Bowling Green beats Miami, we’ll get a rematch between the Falcons and Redhawks a week later thanks to Miami’s win over Ohio earlier this season.

Mountain West

The Broncos clinched a spot in the title game with a 17-13 escape at Wyoming. Colorado State must beat Fresno State late Saturday night and beat Utah State in Week 14 to meet the Broncos. If they join UNLV at 6-1 — assuming the Rebels beat Nevada in Week 14 — UNLV will enter through the CFP rankings. UNLV was ranked No. 24 in the most recent set of rankings.

SEC

The race for the SEC title got a lot easier thanks to three top-15 losses on Saturday. Alabama and Ole Miss are officially out of SEC title contention now that they have suffered three conference losses, and so is Tennessee, despite the Vols’ chances to finish the season at 6-2.

Thanks to Texas A&M’s loss to Auburn, the Aggies’ home game against Texas is a de facto SEC semifinal. The winner will play the Bulldogs.

Sun belt

The Ragin’ Cajuns captured the Sun Belt West with a 51-30 victory over Troy. Marshall will win the East with a win over James Madison. If Marshall loses and Georgia Southern beats Appalachian State, the Eagles will be in the title game thanks to their 24-23 win over Marshall earlier this season.

Here are this week’s other winners and losers.

Winners

Florida: The Gators haven’t stopped fighting. Florida has a great chance to finish the regular season 7-5 after losing to No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday. The Florida Pass Rush did a fantastic job against Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart and had two late interceptions to seal the 24-17 victory. Freshman QB DJ Lagway was 10 of 17 passing for 180 yards and two touchdowns, while RB Montrell Johnson saw significant action for the first time since Oct. 12, rushing 18 times for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Kansas: The Jayhawks became the first team with a losing record to score three straight wins over ranked opponents with their 37-21 victory against No. 16 Colorado. RB Devin Neal rushed for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns as Kansas didn’t punt a single time.

Kansas is now 5-6 and bowl eligible with a win over Baylor in the final week of the regular season.

Nebraska: The losing streak is over. Nebraska is heading to a bowl game for the first time since 2016. The Huskers defeated Wisconsin 44-25 to finally gain bowl eligibility. Entering Saturday, Nebraska had lost nine straight games after earning its fifth win of the season. Freshmn QB Dylan Raiola was 28 of 38 passing for 293 yards and a TD as Nebraska scored 20 straight points in the second and third quarters to break the game open.

State of Oregon: The Beavers are Pac-12 champions. Oregon State won the battle for bragging rights in the two-team conference with a 41-38 home win over Washington State. The loss is the Cougars’ second straight after falling to New Mexico a week ago. Oregon State tied the game at 38-38 with a 16-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a four-yard TD pass from Ben Gulbranson to Darrius Clemons with 2:45 remaining. Washington State fumbled the second play of the next possession and Everett Hayes hit a go-ahead 55-yard field goal with 20 seconds left.

Losers

Rutgers: Greg Schiano will relive the end of Saturday’s game for a long time. While Rutgers led 31-30, Illinois lined up for a 58-yard field goal with 14 seconds left. The kick went wide and short, but Schiano had called a timeout before the game. With the kick not coming close, Illinois coach Bret Bielema decided to go for it on 4th and 10. That worked very well as Luke Altmyer found Pat Bryant over the middle and Bryant raced into the end zone for the go-ahead shot. -ahead TD with four seconds left in the Illini’s 38-31 victory.

Pitt: The Panthers lost their fourth straight game on Saturday and possibly lost QB Eli Holstein for the season in a 37-9 loss at Louisville. Holstein was carted off the field with his lower left leg in a boot after a sack in the first quarter. The Cardinals led 27-0 at halftime before pulling ahead in the second half. Pitt mustered just 265 total yards of offense after Holstein threw for 51 yards on just five attempts. The Panthers need a win at Boston College in Week 14 to avoid a five-game skid that would end the season.

NC State: The Wolfpack were on the cusp of bowl eligibility when Hollywood Smothers rushed 53 yards for a TD with 1:30 to go against Georgia Tech on Thursday. Smothers’ TD gave NC State a 29-23 lead, but Georgia Tech needed just seven plays to travel 75 yards for the winning score.

QB Aaron Philo rushed 18 yards for a touchdown with 22 seconds left, while Aidan Birr’s extra point provided the winning margin in a 30-29 victory. The loss dropped NC State to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the ACC ahead of the rivalry game against North Carolina to end the season.

Kent State: The Golden Flashes appear destined for an 0-12 season. Kent State hosted a 2-8 Akron team Tuesday night in what appeared to be KSU’s best chance at a win in more than a year. Instead, Akron won easily 38–17, extending Kent State’s losing streak. The Golden Flashes haven’t won since a win over FCS opponent Central Connecticut State on September 16, 2023. That’s a streak of 20 straight games and you have to go back to the final week of the 2022 season to find Kent State’s last win to find out about an FBS opponent.