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Everything you need to know for CFB Championship Week
Clemson's quest for a return to the National Championship is largely in the hands of Deshaun Watson. Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Everything you need to know for CFB Championship Week

It's finally championship week! There's a lot on the line as conference championships are up for grabs and four College Football Playoff berths are out there for the taking. This is an interesting time for the fairly new Playoff system as all eight of the previous playoff teams were conference champions. However, Ohio State could get a playoff spot despite not only not winning their conference championship but not even winning their division. If for some reason Alabama loses to Florida, the Tide would still most likely be in the playoff.

Teams like Clemson, Washington, Penn State and Oklahoma not only want to win but may feel a need to make a huge impression as it seems that five teams are fighting for two playoff spots. So let's see what's on tap for championship week.

1-Southeastern Conference

Game of the Week: Alabama vs Florida
On paper, this should be yet another Alabama blowout. The Gators are a good team but not really on Bama's level. This season, the undefeated Tide have won 11 of 12 games by double digits and won the last two SEC title games in convincing fashion. Interestingly, this is the ninth time these two will meet for the SEC Championship (they've split the first eight games) and second year in a row. Even more interesting is that Alabama may not even need to win this game to get into the College Football Playoff.

Heisman Watch: Jalen Hurts, Alabama
Hurts has been solid all season long and gets the hype as the quarterback on the No. 1 team in the land. The freshman has played well this year, but not well enough to win the Heisman. He should be in the running for a few years coming.

Surprise/ Disappointment
How about Kentucky? Who would have thought that the Wildcats would be a bowl team and tied for 2nd in the SEC East Division after their season opening loss to Southern Miss? Plus they capped off the regular season by beating rival Louisville and won 7 games for the first time since 2009.

Tennessee spent yet another year not reaching their potential. This was a year that big things were set to happen in Knoxville. This was finally their year. Yet, they finish with a 4-4 league mark and lost to South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Ugh..

2-Atlantic Coast Conference

Game of the Week: Clemson vs Virginia Tech
Clemson wins and they've pretty much nail down a playoff berth. A loss and it is unlikely they can recover. Virginia Tech would love to go to the Orange Bowl with a win. The Atlantic Division has won the last five ACC titles, which bears well for the favored Tigers. Virginia Tech has only beaten one ranked team all season (North Carolina, and they are no longer ranked) but have had a solid season in the Justin Fuente's first campaign.

Heisman Watch: Lamar Jackson, Louisville
That iron grip that Jackson had on the Heisman trophy has really, really softened.  The losses to Houston and Kentucky have really tightened this race. He should still be the favorite, but don't discount voters using this last month against him.

Surprise/Disappointment
Virginia Tech has to be the biggest surprise of the ACC. The Hokies were entering the post Frank Beamer era and no one knew what to expect following consecutive 7-6 seasons. Va. Tech came through with the Coastal Division title.

The biggest disappointment has to be Duke. In a season where it seemed as if anyone could win the Coastal Division, Duke shockingly was a non-factor.

3-Big Ten Conference

Game of the Week: Wisconsin vs Penn State
Here's the one that will have everyone guessing. Will the winner of this game get into the playoff? Maybe not, but a Big Ten team (or two) will still get in. Ohio State is in even though they didn't win the East division. Michigan is ranked higher than both of these teams so it can be assumed that they are valued a bit more by the committee. Of course, whomever wins this game (plus Michigan) would need Washington or Clemson to lose their title showdowns. If that happens, could the winner of this game leapfrog Michigan and get into the playoff? I mean, they'd actually be the conference champions ... and Michigan's beef is that they beat both of these schools during the regular season.

Heisman Watch: Jabrill Peppers, Michigan
Peppers has been awesome for Michigan, but even he knows that it is rare that a primary defensive player wins the Heisman.

Surprise/Disappointment
Who had Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game? Just a few years removed from one of the biggest scandals in NCAA history and the Nittany Lions are in the Big Ten title game after being the only team to beat Ohio State. Yep, in a year that was all about Ohio State and Michigan, it was Penn State who ended up winning the division.

Remember when Michigan State beat Notre Dame and we were set for a top ten showdown with Wisconsin? Well, they would go on to lose 9 of their remaining 10 games ... with the lone win coming over awful Rutgers.

4-Pacific 12 Conference

Game of the Week: Washington vs Colorado
Washington heads into this game feeling as if they win then they are one of the four teams in the College Football Playoff. Right now, they are ranked No. 4 and a win over Colorado would follow up their win over Washington State and should be enough to get them in. A loss would most likely eliminate the Huskies from getting a chance at a national championship. And how about Colorado just being in this game after a tough start to their Pac-12 membership. The South Division has never won this game.

Heisman Watch: Jake Browning, Washington
Browning should really be buzzed about more than he is. He is among the best quarterbacks in terms of the typical passing stats and helms one of the best teams in the land. He's thrown for 40 TDs and just 7 interceptions while completing 65 percent of his passes.

Surprise/Disappointment
In their first five years in the Pac-12, the Colorado Buffaloes were 5-40 in league play. This season, they won 8 games. Unbelievable. Now they are playing for the Pac-12 title.

Two years ago, Oregon was playing for the national championship. They had the cool uniforms and money rolling in and were building a powerhouse. Now they finish an embarrassing 4-8 season by firing their head coach and looking to rebuild and try to get back to elite status.

5-Big 12 Conference

Game of the Week: Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State
The Big 12 doesn't have an actual conference championship game, but this is virtually the same thing. The winner of the Sooners-Cowboys game will be the conference champion and most likely in the Sugar Bowl (there is a slim chance for a CFP berth). Oklahoma could be only the second Power 5 school to finish the season with an undefeated conference record. It won't be easy -- Oklahoma State won the last time they went to Norman.

Heisman Watch: Dede Westbrook, Oklahoma
While Baker Mayfield has played well during Big 12 play, Westbrook has been a major part of that. He has caught 15 TDs among his 70 receptions and has been one of the most exciting playmakers in the country.

Surprise/Disappointment
West Virginia had one heck of a run for a while there. They were undefeated through six games and their only two losses were to the two teams playing for the Big 12 title game -- Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

I'm going with TCU as my disappointment. Sure, Texas turned on us, but it wasn't like big things were expected from the Horns, and there were rumblings that TCU was a true contender. The Horned Frogs were expected to contend with Oklahoma for the Big 12 title and instead squeaked through the season by barely beating Kansas and losing to pretty much everyone that was better than them.

6-Group of Five

Game of the Week: Western Michigan vs Ohio
Let's see ... an undefeated record and a spot in the Cotton Bowl is on the line for Western Michigan. All this for a school that had never been ranked ... ever ... prior to this season. To get this far and not cash it in would be next to devastating for the Broncos. Ohio is looking for its first MAC title since 1968.

Under-the-radar Game: Navy vs Temple
Not only is this game big since it is for the American championship but it could be for a bid to the Cotton Bowl. If Navy wins this game and, say, Western Michigan loses the MAC title game then Navy would actually have a great look at getting to the New Year's Six game. Now here is where it gets weird: if Navy is the highest ranked Group of 5 champion on Sunday, then it could put a freeze on the entire bowl picture. See, Navy still has to play Army next weekend and even though they'd be heavy favorites, the bowls can't slot teams until the Army-Navy game is played. Or Temple could win and this wouldn't even matter.

We also have San Diego State-Wyoming (Mountain West), Western Kentucky-Louisiana Tech (Conference USA).

Heisman Watch: Donnel Pumphrey, San Diego State
Pumphrey will play in the Mountain West championship game and a bowl game, which could push Pumphrey into the all-time leading rusher in FBS history.

Surprise/Disappointment
As mentioned above, Western Michigan became ranked for the first time this season. They join Alabama as the only undefeated regular season team and are in position to wins its first MAC title since 1988. To top it off, they are a win away from likely being in the Cotton Bowl ... by far the biggest bowl game they've ever participated in.

I think we were all disappointed when Houston lost to Navy. We were even more disappointed when they lost to SMU and had zero shot at crashing the College Football Playoff party.

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