The college football season is close enough to the finish line (*weeps uncontrollably*) that the conference championship game matchups are beginning to take shape.
Clemson is officially in the ACC title game, which means Florida State is out. Florida is in the SEC title game, which means… good God, the SEC East is awful yet again. Stanford and Temple are just about to wrap up their divisions. North Carolina calls the shots in the ACC Coastal. Iowa is on course to win the Big Ten West. Boise State, thanks to an upset loss by Utah State, has regained leverage in the Mountain West Mountain, while San Diego State is about to seal the Mountain West West.
Now that we know a little more about the conference championship games, we can identify conference matchups which never graced the schedule this season. It’s a timely reminder of how many significant games don’t occur each season, which always casts the rankings of various teams — and their standing within a conference — in a very limited light.
The envelope, please:
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10 – NORTHWESTERN vs. OHIO STATE or MICHIGAN STATE
The Wildcats had to face only Michigan this season, not the other two powers in the Big Ten East.
9 – WISCONSIN vs. OHIO STATE or MICHIGAN STATE or MICHIGAN
The Badgers also ducked the Big Ten East’s beasts.
8 – PITTSBURGH vs. CLEMSON
The Tigers didn’t have to play a number of ACC Coastal teams.
7 – DUKE vs. CLEMSON
It is absolutely ridiculous how seldom these two teams meet on the gridiron. That should never happen in a power conference. The same goes for Duke-Florida State.
6 – UTAH vs. WASHINGTON STATE
Surprisingly but genuinely, this has turned into a conference game which would test the Utes.
5 – HOUSTON-NAVY LOSER vs. TEMPLE
The Owls did have to play Memphis, but they won’t play either Houston or Navy. The Owls will very possibly play one in the AAC title game, but not the other.
4 – OREGON vs. UCLA
The pecking order in the Pac-12 and the balance of power between North and South would be easier to ascertain if the Ducks and Bruins met this year.
3 – IOWA vs. MICHIGAN
The Jake Rudock bowl would be interesting on its own terms, but this game would reveal so much more about the Big Ten. It’s the kind of magnifying-glass game a conference season needs.
2 – NORTH CAROLINA vs. FLORIDA STATE
The second-best team in the ACC would be decided in this matchup… but we’re not going to get it. Such a shame.
1 – IOWA vs. MICHIGAN STATE
Unless the Spartans win out, this matchup will not occur. Just how do the top four teams in the Big Ten stack up against each other? This game would offer more than a little clarity to experts and fans alike.