College Football Playoff stakes abound throughout conference title game weekend

If only the Pac-12 had this kind of season a few years ago — even last year — maybe things would all have ended up differently for the league.

Perhaps Oregon State and Washington State wouldn’t be the only ones left.

It’s the sad reality of the situation that this breakthrough fall happened too late; that Friday night’s title game between Oregon and Washington will be the conference’s swan song, a winner-take-all showdown that is expected to snap the Pac-12’s seven-year College Football Playoff drought.

Of course, both Washington and Oregon are headed elsewhere next year, both to the Big Ten along with USC and UCLA. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will be members of the Big 12 while California and Stanford are making the move to the ACC.

It is uncertain where this will leave Oregon State and Washington State.

The league will have the stage to itself Friday night in a rematch of Washington’s heart-stopping, 36-33 home victory over Oregon on Oct 14.

Since then, both teams have held serve, albeit in very different fashion.

Washington’s last six wins have come by an average of 6.5 points, a narrow margin that has created doubts.

Once a Heisman Trophy favorite, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has struggled of late, with just 12 touchdown passes, five interceptions and two 300-yard passing performances in that span.

Oregon, meanwhile, has been dominant.

Of the Ducks’ 11 wins, only one has come by a single score, and they are coming off of a 31-7 pasting of rival Oregon State.

The Ducks are second in points scored (45.3) and seventh in points allowed (15.9).

Signal-caller Bo Nix is a top contender for the Heisman Trophy, alongside LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Washington is ranked third by the playoff committee and Oregon is fifth.

The winner almost certainly will be one of the last four teams standing, giving the Pac-12 a shot to go out on top.

It would be a bittersweet moment for this picked-apart conference.

The other Power Five conference championship games go off Saturday.

Big 12: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State, noon

Texas needs to win convincingly and get help.

Otherwise, the Longhorns have little shot of climbing three spots to reach the playoff.

They still can claim their first Big 12 crown since 2009 and reach 12 wins for the first time since that same season with a win, significant accomplishments for a program that has been mediocre for the better part of the last 15 years.

SEC: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 8 Alabama, 4 p.m.

This hasn’t been the dominance of the past two years, and yet Georgia is undefeated without a truly close call, in the top-10 nationally in passing offense (310.8 yards), points scored (39.6) and points allowed (15.8).

It is riding a 29-game winning streak into the game, but it has to make it 30, or the Bulldogs’ hopes at a historic three-peat could end on the turf of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Alabama holds the keys to chaos in the playoff.

It’s hard to see the Crimson Tide not making it if it upsets Georgia, and then one-loss Texas may have to be selected, too, since it beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa in early September.

The Longhorns do have to hold serve earlier in the day against the Cowboys.

Big Ten: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 16 Iowa, 8 p.m.

The last time a team from the loaded Big Ten East lost this game, the divisions’ names were different. That was 2012.

The Big Ten final hasn’t even been decided by a single score since 2017.

That trend will continue this year. Michigan really won the league crown last Saturday by getting past archrival Ohio State.

Iowa is merely a footnote before the playoff for the Wolverines.

ACC: No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 14 Louisville, 8 p.m.

There has never been a situation quite like Florida State’s in the playoff era.

With two weeks to go, the Seminoles lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a major leg injury, ending his season.

Now, there are questions whether they deserve to reach the playoff after narrowly getting past 5-7 Florida.

Backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker hardly distinguished himself in the win, completing 12 of 25 passes for 134 yards without a touchdown.

A one-sided victory over Louisville would end that debate, but even a narrow win should get Florida State in.

An undefeated Power Five program has never been kept out.

The entire body of work has to matter.