Open Thread: Conference Championship Saturday

Your Vanderbilt Commodores may be on temporary hiatus, but we’re still gonna give you an open thread for Conference Championship Saturday (Alternate Title: Division III Quarterfinal Saturday!) Here’s your viewing guide for today. Lots of this info comes from the great site LSUfootball.net.

Your rooting interests, assuming you do not want Vanderbilt to go to the Birmingham Bowl, are listed below, though some of them have nothing to do with that.

The Main Event (FBS Conference Championships)

Big XII Championship: Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns (11:00 AM CT, ABC/WatchESPN)

Rooting interest: Oklahoma to win a close one; the SEC’s chances of getting a fourth New Year’s Six team go up considerably if Oklahoma wins, but misses the playoff.

Sun Belt Championship: Appalachian State Mountaineers vs. UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (11:00 AM CT, ESPN/WatchESPN)

Rooting interest: Really, you can’t go wrong here.

Conference USA Championship: UAB Blazers at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (12:30 PM, CBS Sports Network)

Rooting interest: UAB, because (a) they can win a conference title just two years after reviving their program, and (b) they are not Middle.

AAC Championship: Memphis Tigers vs. UCF Knights (2:30 PM CT, ABC/WatchESPN)

Rooting interest: Can’t really go wrong here. You may root for the in-state team who is not a rival (Memphis), or the team that really pisses off all the blue bloods (UCF.)

SEC Championship: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Georgia Bulldogs (3:00 PM CT, CBS)

Rooting interest: Meteor strike.

Mountain West Championship: Boise State Broncos vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (6:45 PM CT, ESPN/WatchESPN)

Rooting interest: Points. Lots and lots of points.

ACC Championship: Clemson Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (7:00 PM CT, ABC/WatchESPN)

Rooting interest: An upset here would do immense harm to Vanderbilt’s chances of avoiding Birmingham, so Clemson. I do not feel gross about this.

Big Ten Championship: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Northwestern Wildcats (7:00 PM, FOX)

Rooting interest: An upset here would do immense harm to Vanderbilt’s chances of avoiding Birmingham; however, advising you to root for Ohio State over Northwestern goes against everything this blog stands for.

The Undercard (Random FBS games, mostly rescheduled due to Mother Nature)

• Akron at South Carolina (11:00 AM CT, SEC Network+/WatchESPN)
• Drake at Iowa State (11:00 AM CT, cyclones.tv)
• East Carolina at NC State (11:00 AM CT, WatchESPN)
• Marshall at Virginia Tech (11:00 AM CT, WatchESPN)
• Norfolk State at Liberty (1:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• Stanford at Cal (2:00 PM CT, Pac-12 Network)

FCS Playoffs!

• Jacksonville State at Maine (11:00 AM CT, WatchESPN)
• James Madison at Colgate (12:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• Wofford at Kennesaw State (1:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• Duquesne at South Dakota State (2:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• Montana State at North Dakota State (2:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• SE Missouri State at Weber State (3:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• Nicholls at Eastern Washington (4:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)
• Northern Iowa at UC Davis (6:00 PM CT, WatchESPN)

Division II Playoffs

• Slippery Rock at Notre Dame (not THAT Notre Dame) (11:00 AM CT, video)
• Lenoir Rhyne at Valdosta (12:00 PM CT, video)
• Tarleton State at MSU Mankato (12:00 PM CT, video)
• Ferris at Ouachita Baptist (1:00 PM CT, video)

DIVISION III PLAYOFFS!!!

• Muhlenberg at Mount Union (11:00 AM CT, video)
• RPI at Johns Hopkins (11:00 AM CT, video)
• Bethel at Wisconsin Whitewater (12:00 PM CT, video)
• St. John’s (MN) at Mary Hardin Baylor (12:00 PM CT, video)