Championship Week Recap

Ricky Widmer — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:00:23 +0000

All the conference championships are over and all the bowl games are decided and scheduled.

This week, Northern Illinois won the MAC championship, Stanford won the Pac-12 championship, Tulsa won the C-USA championship, Wisconsin won the Big Ten championship, Alabama won the SEC championship, and Florida State won the ACC championship.

Rankings are from BCS poll.

Friday, November 30th

Nov 30, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Northern Illinois Huskies defensive tackle Anthony Wells (91) celebrates after defeating Kent State Golden Flashes 44-37 in double overtime to win the 2012 MAC Championship at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

21 Northern Illinois (12-1, 8-0 MAC) 44 vs 17 Kent State (11-2, 8-0 MAC) 37 – The Northern Illinois Huskies defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes in double overtime to win the MAC championship. Jordan Lynch had the game of his life in the conference championship. He threw for 212 yards and a touchdown while running for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Due to this, he broke Denard Robinson’s record for the most rushing yards by an FBS quarterback in a single season. In 2010, Robinson ran for 1,702 yards and Lynch ran for 1,771 yards this season. The Huskies will play Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

16 UCLA (9-4, 6-3 Pac-12) 24 vs 8 Stanford (11-2, 8-1 Pac-12) 27 – Few believed that the Stanford Cardinal would be in the Rose Bowl at the beginning of the season. After losing Andrew Luck before the season, Stanford found their replacement in freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan. It was only Hogan’s fourth career start, but he still threw for 155 yards and one touchdown while running for 47 yards and a touchdown. One of his best plays was a 26-yard game-tying touchdown pass to David Terrell on third-and-15 early in the fourth quarter. Stanford officially won the game when UCLA’s kicker, Ka’imi Fairbairn, missed a 52-yard field goal attempt to tie the game with 39 seconds left. Stanford will play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

Saturday, November 31st

UCF (9-4, 7-1 C-USA) 27 @ Tulsa (10-3, 7-1 C-USA) 33 – Just like in the MAC championship, it took overtime to decide who would win the Conference-USA championship. Alex Singleton carried the load for Tulsa. He ran for 100 yards on 25 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns. He scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime to give Tulsa the win over Central Florida. The Golden Hurricane will face off against Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl.

12 Nebraska (10-3, 7-1 Big Ten) 31 vs Wisconsin (8-5, 4-4 Big Ten) 70 – Because of sanctions for Ohio State and Penn State, Wisconsin got a chance to win the Big Ten conference championship for the second year in a row. That they did as they routed Nebraska 70-31 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Montee Ball had a game for the Badgers by running for 202 yards and and three touchdowns. Ball has now scored more touchdowns than any other FBS player in history (82). Melvin Gordon also ran well for Wisconsin with 216 yards and one touchdown. The Badgers will play Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Dec 1, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Eddie Lacy (42) holds the MVP trophy after winning the 2012 SEC Championship game against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Georgia Dome. Alabama won 32-28. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

2 Alabama (12-1, 7-1 SEC) 32 vs 3 Georgia (11-2, 7-1 SEC) 28 – Without a doubt, the SEC championship was the game of the week. The winner would play #1 Notre Dame for the BCS National Championship. The Bulldogs had a chance to win the game with second left, but could not get out of bounds to stop the clock as time expired. Aaron Murray threw for 265 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. For Alabama, both Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon ran for over 100-yards. Lacy finished with 181 yards and two touchdowns while Yeldon had 153 yards and one touchdown.

Alabama will play #1 Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship while Georgia did not get into a BCS bowl game.

13 Florida State (11-2, 7-1 ACC) 21 vs Georgia Tech (6-7, 5-3 ACC) 15 – Jimbo Fisher spoke all season about re-establishing a “winning culture” at Florida State and his team delivered in the conference championship against Georgia Tech. The defense for FSU came to play as they forced the Yellow Jackets to nine points through three quarters. The run game provided the scores for Florida State. James Wilder Jr. ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns while Devonta Freeman ran for 59 yards and one touchdown. E.J. Manuel also threw for 134 yards. Florida State will play Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @RickyWidmer.

Check out my other writings on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo.

Championship Week Preview

Ricky Widmer — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:11:32 +0000

Before the games kickoff, we’ll let you know who is playing who this week in each big championship game and also rank all the games taking place. If the need arises we’ll designate which team in the match-up should be on upset alert.

All times are central. Rankings are from BCS poll.

November 17, 2012; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray (11) calls signals against the Georgia Southern Eagles during the second quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

Championship Game of the Week

Who: 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 SEC) @ 3 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1, 7-1 SEC)
What: SEC Championship Game
When: Saturday, December 1st at 3:00 pm
Where: Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia
Why: Winner plays Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship.
TV: CBS

Games You’re Watching Anyway

Friday, November 30th:

16 UCLA Bruins (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) @ 8 Stanford Cardinal (10-2, 8-1 Pac-12), 7:00 pm (TV: FOX) – Pac-12 Championship Game
Upset Alert: Both teams met last week and Stanford will need to be on their game or else an upset could happen.

Saturday, December 1st:

UCF Knights (9-3, 7-1 C-USA) @ Tulsa Golden Hurricane (9-3, 7-1 C-USA), 11:00 am (TV: ESPN2/ESPN 3D) – C-USA Championship Game
13 Florida State Seminoles (10-2, 7-1 ACC) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-6, 5-3 ACC), 7:00 pm (TV: ESPN/WatchESPN) – ACC Championship Game

Alumni/Friends and Family Mainly Interested