Holy War Rematch? Hoosiers Again? Klatt's Conference Championship Projections
Eight weeks into the season, potential conference championship matchups across college football are taking shape, but questions remain.
Will Ohio State and Indiana meet back in Indianapolis for a 2025 Big Ten rematch? Does UCLA continue its hot streak and reach its first-ever Big Ten title match instead? Despite its loss to Auburn, Georgia continues to make its case as the SEC's top team. But who could the Bulldogs face? A two-loss Ole Miss team, or could a contender like Kentucky earn a spot in the SEC championship?
On the latest episode of "The Joel Klatt Show," FOX Sports' Joel Klatt made his projections heading into Week 9 of the regular season.
Klatt's thoughts: "I'm going to give Ohio State the benefit of the doubt. They're going to figure something out on offense, and I think Ohio State gets themselves to Indianapolis and they're going to play for the Big Ten Championship. So that leaves the next spot. Is it going to be UCLA? Now I don't think UCLA is going to run the table. I just think that that's too difficult. We see every single week that it is difficult for these 18-to-24-year olds, and some older at this point. But you know what I'm saying. It's difficult for these young men to play at a consistent level. We see it week in and week out. So to expect UCLA to just run off into Indianapolis and get to the Big Ten championship game, I think would be naive of us. I think UCLA gets tripped up one time, which means those two teams would actually be in a tiebreak, and the tiebreak would be that game against Michigan. In this case, in this scenario, I think that Michigan were to trip up UCLA. Indiana got that win last week [against Michigan], which means Indiana is in the Big Ten championship game.
"So here, we have for the second-straight year an Ohio State-Indiana matchup. And by the way, please, that would be amazing because the two previous games that we've seen from these teams have been amazing, amazing games. Last year in the championship game, what we just witnessed two weeks ago with Nick Marsh's foot being just out of bounds, that was an amazing game. I would love to see this, and we know how evenly matched these teams are … If you tell me, if you take that at face value and you've got Julian Sayin not on the field for Ohio State, it's really hard for me to say that Ohio State's going to beat Indiana, in particular with how evenly matched I know that they are.
"If they don't have Sayin on the field, Indiana is going to win the Big Ten championship over Ohio State."
Klatt's thoughts: "This one's much more difficult. In a good way … It's hard to project what's going on from week-to-week, and we see that with Georgia losing to Auburn, and then all of a sudden LSU destroys Auburn. We see this week in and week out. Florida and Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas. I think it's a mess in the most beautiful way, because it's going to be very difficult to actually project what we see during the course of this last month … I see Georgia as my SEC favorite. I think Georgia is the best team in the SEC, partly because they're the most consistent. Even though they lost to Auburn, I get it … Now we have to figure out, okay, who else is going to Atlanta now? Because this is where it's a real mess. Ole Miss only has one ranked opponent left on the schedule. It happens to be that Georgia game … Do we really anticipate anyone winning out? I don't know. I got to be honest with you. I really don't.
"But they have a quarterback that I trust that almost came back on the road against Texas, in a game in which Texas showed that they're playing the best football that they had played all season long, and Ole Miss still almost came back and beat them. So do I trust Ole Miss? Yeah, I kind of do. Where does that all land us? Well, it lands us in this scenario. There would be a large tie in the standings in which Ole Miss essentially wins the tiebreaker. I'm not quite sure. I just don't see Alabama, LSU or Tennessee winning out. So I'm projecting Kentucky also to drop a couple of games, and I think Ole Miss is sitting there as a two-loss team, and they get that nod, and they go and play Georgia. In my scenario, remember Ole Miss had knocked off Georgia in the regular season. Do we really think Georgia is going to lose a rematch to Ole Miss? I don't.
"So Georgia is going to be my SEC champion."
Klatt's thoughts: "The Big 12, another conference that's kind of a mess right now. A lot of teams in the mix as of right now. Utah is obviously in the mix; they're undefeated. BYU is still in the mix even after that loss to UCF. Arizona, don't write off the Wildcats. Brent Brennan and Noah Fafita. Noah Fafita is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country, so watch out for them. Texas Tech is still alive in this thing. Oklahoma State is alive in this, all with one or fewer losses. I've been pointing to that Holy War on Nov. 7 as kind of like the game in the Big 12. I'm going to stand by that. I think it's the most critical game in the conference. Projecting that game is very difficult. You know that I love Utah, but I'm also a big believer in BYU.
"Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that BYU were to beat Utah in Salt Lake. I don't see Texas Tech, Arizona and Oklahoma State running the table the rest of the way. You look at their schedules. There's areas for these teams to trip up. So now they all land with two losses. BYU and Utah would have one loss in conference play, and those teams would rematch in the Big 12 championship game. That was as clean as I could make it … Those two teams are super closely matched in a lot of ways. I can't see either of those teams winning both games. I think they're going to play a great game on November 7, and I think they're going to rematch in the championship game.
"I'm going to go Utah as the winner of the Big 12."
Klatt's thoughts: "In the ACC, listen, put Miami in there. They're not losing a conference game. So who plays Miami? Well, if you look at the standings, and you see how these things are going to play out, we basically are going to have a play-in game between Wake Forest and SMU. That game is at SMU, and SMU is 11-0 at home since joining the ACC. Kevin Jennings has done a great job not turning the football over. They have not been a team that we focused on a lot.
"But remember … When they play clean, they are very dangerous on the offensive side. Rhett Lashley has done a remarkable job there. They win a lot of football games, and they've got an experienced quarterback. And if you look at Wake's schedule, it has not been a very difficult schedule. So SMU is a more tested team. I think that they are a better team. They have a more sustained era of success, at least currently. Again, 11-0 at home, 11 and zero at home since joining the ACC. I think Wake finishes at 10-2, but SMU wins that game, and they play Miami, and Miami beats SMU.
"So, Miami is going to win the ACC."