Get Ready for Championship Saturday – December 2

If you’re a college football fan, Christmas comes early in December with championship Saturday. It’s here and it’s today. We got a taste of some conference title games last night. In the Conference USA final, Liberty held off a strong charge from New Mexico State and Washington claimed the Pac-12 championship with another win over Oregon

Today on championship Saturday, we are treated to eight more exciting conference championship games. It all starts at noon with the Big 12 and MAC title games and ends with the Big Ten and ACC games at night. Sports Hub is right here with you all day long. Before you think about placing any bets today, visit our Week 14 NCAAF picks page. You’ll find all of the best bets – totals, props, and more – as well as some useful tips and trends to attack championship Saturday.

Championship Saturday Impacts CFP

We got a little clearer picture of the College Football Playoff with Washington’s 34-31 win over Oregon last night. The Huskies were ranked No. 3 in the latest CFP poll. The win last night as a 10-point underdog solidified their spot in the upcoming playoff. No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, and No. 4 Florida State could do the same with championship Saturday wins today.

The Bulldogs are favored to beat rival Alabama in the SEC championship game. Georgia has won 18 SEC games in a row. The last time they lost to an SEC opponent was in the 2021 conference title game. The opponent? Alabama. The Bulldogs are actually just 1-7 SU and 3-4-1 ATS in their last eight games against the Crimson Tide. A win by Georgia assures head coach Kirby Smart the top seed in the CFP. An Alabama victory will create some mayhem.

Michigan is a 22.5-point favorite against Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. The Hawkeyes are one of the worst offenses in the nation. Iowa is dead last out of 133 FBS teams in total yards per game (247.3). They score just 18 points a game, but they are 10-2 and winners of the West in the Big Ten. That’s because they rank fourth in scoring defense – 12.2 points per game. 

If you’re betting on tonight’s game, don’t forget only three teams give up fewer points than the Hawkeyes. Michigan is one of them. In fact, the Wolverines have the best defense in the country. They allow just 10.3 points per game.

ACC Title Game

The one game on championship Saturday that could really affect the CFP is fourth-ranked Florida State taking on No. 14 Louisville. We all know that Seminole star QB Jordan Travis went down with a season-ending injury. Tate Rodemaker stepped in and guided FSU to two straight wins. The problem for the Seminoles and head coach Mike Norvell is Rodemaker is a game-time decision on whether or not he’ll play. 

Rodemaker went 13-for-23 for 217 yards and two touchdowns after taking over for Travis against North Alabama. He started last week’s rivalry game against Florida and went 12-for-25 for 134 yards. Trey Benson did most of the heavy lifting with 95 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 24-15 win. Rodemaker was knocked out of the game for a few plays but returned. He did suffer a concussion and that is why he might not play tonight. Freshman Brock Glenn got most of the practice reps this week.

Experts Get Off to Strong Start for Championship Saturday

The handicappers here at Sports Hub got themselves prepped for Championship Saturday by correctly predicting Friday night’s conference title games. Several of our top cappers nailed both picks as part of a strong Friday finish. Scott’s Picks ended up in the top spot after hitting 7 of 10 picks to earn $629. Scott won both CFB games last night and went 3-1 on CBB games too. 

Our friends at Knup Sports had another great day hitting 13 of 20 predictions and our buddies at MadjackSports.com got in on the action with $393 in winnings on five bets. It was a solid winning day all around as 49 of the top 50 handicappers on the board won at least $100.

Here’s a look at the best of yesterday’s best.

• Scott’s ready for championship Saturday: After a 7-3 day and $629 in winnings, Scott’s Picks are ready to go again today. He’s got three picks on championship Saturday. You’ll have to check the database to see which ones. He’s also got picks ready for Sunday’s NFL schedule. You can check those out too.
• Batting .650: Imagine if you hit .650 over an extended period of time in MLB. Better yet, imagine winning 65 percent of your bets for a long time. Knup Sports keeps hitting big numbers and did it again last night. Knup went 13-7 and took home $465. You will find a pick for each championship Saturday college football game in the members’ area by our friends at Knup Sports. 
• Madjack: The guys at MadjackSports.com had themselves a solid night, going 3-2 and winning $393. They feasted on some NHL, particularly the San Jose Sharks who they backed in a huge upset of New Jersey. Madjack bet on the Sharks on the moneyline at +360 and on the puck line at +155 to cover. San Jose won the game 6-3.
• Six and four: Six handicappers went 3-0 and won $300 yesterday. Four of those – Jimmy Liu, Al Grant, Robert Jones, and Evan Lewis – are Sports Hub exclusive handicappers. You might want to see if Al Grant has a championship Saturday pick or two. He’s our top CFB capper (68.18%, $730) over the last 30 days. Coach Rick (71.43%, $565) is right behind him.

Championship Saturday Schedule

Yes, college football is king today, but there is plenty of other sports action on the schedule. In addition to the eight championship Saturday college football games today, we’ve got loaded schedules in the NBA and NHL, plenty of Top 25 action in college basketball, and don’t forget, it’s UFC Fight Night. 

Here’s what’s happening today.

1. Championship Saturday: Eight conference title games are on tap today. You should have it down by now. Two games – the Big 12 and the MAC – start at noon followed by four games that start at either 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. and two night games that start at 8:00 p.m.
2. SEC championship: What’s interesting in today’s SEC title game is that Alabama is a 5.5-point underdog. Since 2010, the Crimson Tide have been an underdog just three times. Today marks the fourth. All four games have been against the Georgia Bulldogs.

3. ACC championship: Keep an eye on FSU QB Tate Rodemaker. If he doesn’t start, the Seminoles will start their third-string quarterback, Brock Glenn. An FSU loss would open the door for a one-loss team to get into the CFP.
4. A dozen NBA games: It’s a rather large NBA schedule on a college football championship Saturday. The NBATV game pits Denver (14-6) against Sacramento (10-7). The big surprise right now is among our trending news, which you can see in the next section.
5. Full NHL schedule: There are 13 games on the ice today, starting with a handful of afternoon games and ending with three late games on the West Coast. 
6. Big day for elite soccer: All the top soccer leagues in the world – Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, and MLS – are in action today.
7. Top 25 in action on the hardwood: Just about half (12) of the most recent AP Top 25 is in action today. That Top 25 will change after Northwestern upset No. 1 Purdue 92-88 in overtime. No. 2 Arizona and No. 3 Marquette both play today.
8. Golf: Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth are tied for the lead in the Hero World Challenge after two rounds. Round 3 continues today. Check out more on Tiger Woods in the trending section.
9. UFC Fight Night: It’s a lightweight main event tonight featuring Beneil Dariush (22-5-1) and his opponent Arman Tsarukyan (20-3). There are a dozen fights on the card tonight. Check out our MMA picks and our resident expert SWJ Sports, who has several picks for tonight’s bouts.

Keeping an Eye of the Pulse of Sports

Each day, championship Saturday included, Sports Hub lays out some of the top trending items in the sports world. At some point, one of these tidbits of information may help you win a bet you otherwise would have lost. Flacco, Tiger, the Huskies, TWolves, and a little Magic are among our trending items today.

Keep an eye on trending sports news.

• Flacco to start: And just like that, Joe Flacco will start at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. With Deshaun Watson done for the season and PJ Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson not the answer, the Browns brought in the 38-year-old Flacco. Cleveland is 7-4 and in the AFC playoff picture. Hopefully, Flacco can keep them there.
• Tiger hurting: Golf bettors should be aware that Tiger Woods has some health/injury issues. He’s still an outstanding golfer, but yesterday his performance on the back-9 at the Hero World Challenge left him 10 strokes behind the leaders. Part of the problem is rust. This is Woods’ first tournament since he withdrew from last year’s Masters.
• Washington: 10-point underdog? So what. The Washington Huskies jumped out to a 20-3 lead over Oregon, held off a comeback, and won the Pac-12 championship with a 34-31 win over the Ducks. The Huskies will earn a spot in the College Football Playoff as a result.
• CFB coaching changes: There are a number of CFB head coaching jobs that need filled. Eight of them, like Texas A&M and Michigan State, have already been filled. Just this week, Indiana replaced Tom Allen with former James Madison coach Curt Cignetti. What’s interesting is that our own Coach Rick has a tie to coach Cignetti. You’ll have to read until the end to see what it is.

• NBA surprises: We mentioned this the other day. The second-place team in the Eastern Conference standings is Orlando. That’s something we haven’t seen in a month of Sundays. In the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been sitting atop the standings with a 14-4 record. The TWolves have spent more days in the No. 1 spot this season than they have in their previous 34 years of existence.

It should be a great day. After all, it is championship Saturday. Before you make those last-minute bets, consult our database of picks brought to you by the best college football handicappers in the business. One of those CFB cappers is Coach Rick who, as you may have guessed by the name, has spent time as a coach. In fact, he played for and coached under Curt Cignetti’s father, Frank Cignetti at IUP (Indiana University of PA). The elder Cignetti is in the College Football Hall of Fame. Hopefully, you all have a Hall of Fame type day! See you tomorrow.