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What each conference race looks like with 2 weeks to go

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer

With two weeks left to go in the college football season just the SEC knows who will be playing in its conference championship game. Every other conference has at least one division up for grabs. Here’s how all 10 college football conferences stack up heading into Week 12.

AAC

East
UCF, 6-0
Temple, 5-1
Cincinnati, 5-1

UCF clinches the East win a win over Cincinnati on Saturday because it has a head-to-head tiebreaker over Temple. The Knights beat the Owls 52-40.

West
SMU, 4-2
Houston, 4-2
Tulane, 4-2
Memphis, 3-3

This is a lot less straightforward, though we could have a better idea of where things stand after Saturday, when SMU plays Memphis and Houston plays Tulane. If SMU wins, it is free and clear in the conference race. The Mustangs have beaten both Houston and Tulane and play Tulsa (2-8, 1-5) in the final week of the season.

ACC

East
Clemson, 7-0

The Tigers have clinched the division.

West
Pitt, 5-1
Virginia, 4-2
Georgia Tech, 4-3,
Virginia Tech, 3-3
Duke, 3-3

Pitt’s got Wake Forest and Miami to end the season. A win in one of those games is good enough thanks to wins over Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. The ACC uses head-to-head winning percentages in all three or four-way ties. Two losses by Pitt opens up the division for Virginia if it beats Virginia Tech (and would eliminate the Hokies from consideration).

Big 12

Oklahoma, 6-1
West Virginia, 6-1
Texas, 5-2
Iowa State, 5-2

The top two teams in the conference go to the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma lost to Texas and West Virginia lost to Iowa State. Texas and Iowa State play each other on Saturday in an elimination game for either team’s conference title hopes.

With Oklahoma and West Virginia playing each other on the final week of the season the scenarios are pretty straightforward. Assuming final week wins by the Cyclones and Longhorns, a Texas win and a West Virginia win means the Longhorns and Mountaineers are playing in the conference title game. An Iowa State win at Texas and an Oklahoma win at West Virginia means the Sooners and Cyclones are playing each other in the title game. Any other scenario means Oklahoma and West Virginia are playing each other in back-to-back weeks.

Big Ten

West
Northwestern, 6-1

The Wildcats have clinched the division.

East
Michigan, 7-0
Ohio State, 6-1

Assuming an Ohio State win over Maryland, the Wolverines’ trip to Columbus will decide the division. If Maryland pulls the upset, Michigan clinches on Saturday.

Conference USA

East
Middle Tennessee, 6-1
Florida International, 5-1
Marshall, 4-2

FIU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over MTSU thanks to a 24-21 win earlier in the season. The Panthers play Charlotte and Marshall over the final two weeks of the season and victories in both seal the division. Marshall, which lost to MTSU, plays UTSA on Saturday. MTSU finishes conference play against UAB, which has already wrapped up its division title.

If Marshall wins out and MTSU loses to UAB, a three-way tie goes to winning percentage within the division. MTSU, at 5-1 in the division, would win that tiebreaker.

West
UAB, 7-0

The Blazers have clinched the division.

MAC

East
Buffalo, 6-1
Ohio, 5-2
Miami (Ohio), 5-2

The Bulls could have clinched with a win over Ohio on Wednesday night. They didn’t come close. Buffalo clinches the division with a win over Bowling Green on Nov. 23. If Buffalo loses that game it needs to make sure it’s tied with Miami and not Ohio. A three-way tie goes to Miami.

West
Northern Illinois, 6-1

The Huskies clinched the division thanks to Western Michigan’s loss to Ball State on Tuesday night. NIU lost to Miami on Wednesday night.

Mountain West

Mountain
Utah State, 6-0
Boise State, 5-1

Utah State and Boise State play each other Nov. 24. If the Broncos win at New Mexico on Saturday, their matchup is for the division title.

West
Fresno State, 5-1
Nevada, 4-2
San Diego State, 4-2

Fresno State and San Diego State play Saturday night. If Fresno State wins it clinches the division thanks to a 21-3 win over Nevada earlier in the season. A San Diego State win makes a three-way tie possible if all three teams finish 6-2 or 5-3. A three-way tie would be won by Fresno State, which beat Nevada head-to-head.

Pac-12

North
Washington State, 6-1
Washington, 5-2

If Washington beats Oregon State on Saturday, the Nov. 24 Apple Cup will determine the division title.

South
Utah, 5-3
Arizona State, 4-3
Arizona, 4-3

Utah is done with conference play after playing Colorado on Saturday. If the Utes win and Arizona State loses at either Oregon or Arizona, the Utes win the South. If Arizona State wins both of those games, the Sun Devils win the South thanks to a win over Utah two weeks ago.

Arizona wins the South if Utah loses to Colorado, ASU loses to Oregon and the Wildcats beat the Sun Devils. A three-way-tie at 5-4 goes to division record and it would be won by Arizona State.

SEC

East
Georgia, 6-1

The Bulldogs have clinched the division.

West
Alabama, 7-0

The Crimson Tide has clinched the division.

Sun Belt

East
Troy, 6-0
App State, 5-1
Georgia Southern, 4-2

App State and Troy play each other on the final week of the season. If neither team loses on Saturday the game will be for the division title. Troy beat Georgia Southern which beat Appalachian State and the Trojans would win a three-way tie in the division at 6-2.

West
Louisiana-Monroe, 4-2
Louisiana, 3-3
Arkansas State, 3-3

There’s a lot left to be determined here. ULM plays both Arkansas State and Louisiana over the final two weeks of the season. Both Louisiana and Arkansas State have a West division bottom feeder on the schedule.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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