College football conference championship weekend is filled with some major matchups, and it starts Friday night with UNLV at Boise State. The winner of the Mountain West Championship game will earn the Group of Five bid into the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

Nine conference championship games are played Dec. 6-7 with three on Friday night.

The College Football Playoff guarantees a berth to the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of Five leagues (American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Mid-American, Conference USA). Boise State is currently ranked No. 10 and the highest Group of Five team. A win secures a first round bye for Boise State as 1-of-4 teams in the 12-team College Football Playoff, as Boise State is ranked higher than any Big 12 team. UNLV is the next highest-ranked G5 team at No. 20, and a Rebels win Friday night would shake up the seedings but get UNLV into the playoff after the Rebels became the first UNLV team in school history to be ranked in the AP Top 25 and CFP Top 25 this season.

Conference Championship Weekend Odds and TV Schedule

College football odds from FanDuel Sportsbook refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Bet types, odds and terms with listed point spreads on favorites and Over/Under game totals included. All times Eastern.

Friday, Dec. 6

• No. 10 Boise State (-3.5) vs. No. 20 UNLV, O/U 57.5 points | 8 pm | Mountain West Championship | FOX
• No. 24 Army vs. Tulane (-5.5), 45.5| AAC Championship Game | 8 pm | ABC
• Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State (-4.5), 58.5 | Conference USA Championship Game | 7 pm | CBS Sports Network

Saturday, Dec. 7

• No. 1 Oregon (-3.5) vs. No. 3 Penn State, 50.5 | 8 pm | Big Ten Championship Game (Indianapolis) | CBS
• No. 2 Texas (-2.5) vs. No. 5 Georgia, 49.5 | SEC Championship Game (Atlanta) | 4 pm |ABC
• No. 8 SMU (-2.5) vs. No. 17 Clemson, 55.5 | ACC Championship Game (Charlotte, NC) | 8 pm | ABC
• No. 15 Arizona State (-1.5) vs. No. 16 Iowa State, 50.5 | 12 pm |Big 12 Championship Game (Arlington, Texas) | ABC
• Marshall at Louisiana (-5.5), 57.5 | 7:30 pm | Sun Belt Championship Game | ESPN
• Ohio vs. Miami, Ohio (-1.5), 43.5 | 12 pm | MAC Championship Game (Detroit, MI | ESPN

UNLV-Boise State

This is a rematch of last year’s Mountain West Championship Game in Las Vegas when Boise State beat UNLV 44-20. Boise State beat UNLV this season in Las Vegas 29-24 in a thrilling nationally televised Friday night game. Boise State (11-1) is 7-0 in conference play while UNLV (10-2) is 6-1.

But under second-year head coach Barry Odom, the UNLV Rebels are 6-0 on the road including a pair of wins over Big 12 teams Kansas and Houston.

Bob Stoll of Dr. Bob Sports provides additional matchups and advance stats for the UNLV-Boise State Mountain West Championship Game.

• Boise State beat UNLV 29-24 in Las Vegas in week 9 with an interception thrown by Rebels’ quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams at the end of the first-half being the difference in that game, as it set up the Broncos with a 1st-and-goal at the 7-yard line with 1:34 left in the half that was converted into 7 points. That game was even from the line of scrimmage with Boise State having more total yards (398 to 368) but UNLV averaging more yards per play (6.6 yppl to 5.7 yppl).
• UNLV is just as good as Boise State from the line of scrimmage. UNLV’s offense in 9 games with Williams at quarterback has been 0.7 yppl better than average while Boise’s offense rates at 0.8 yppl better than average. The Rebels’ defense is 0.5 yppl better than average while the Broncos’ stop unit has been just 0.1 yppl better than average. Overall, that’s a 0.3 yppl edge for UNLV but the Rebels tend to run fewer plays than their opponents due to the number of big plays they produce.
• My math model projects Boise to run 10 more plays from the line of scrimmage and gain 437 yards at 6.25 yards per play while UNLV is projected at 369 yards at 6.17 yppl. The Rebels have elite special teams that helps with field position, as they rank 4th best in the nation in net starting field position differential and overall the math favors Boise by just 1 point with a total of 58.6 points (taking into account the expected good weather.

I bet Boise State RB Jeanty under 197.5 rushing yards in their 29-24 win at UNLV in October in a game I attended in Las Vegas. The nation’s leading rusher finished with 128 rushing yards and 1 TD on 33 carries after getting shut down in the first half by UNLV’s top-15 run defense. Now his O/U rushing yards is 169.5 in the Mountain West Championship game. While he’ll be counted on to carry the load again and lead Boise State to a 12th straight home win and the Mountain West title, I’m going with less rushing yards from the Broncos QB, Maddux Madsen in a game played in freezing temperatures in Boise, ID on the blue turf.

UNLV-Boise State Props

• BSU QB Maddux Madsen passing yards: O/U 218.5, rushing 15.5
• UNLV QB Hajj-Malik Williams passing yards: O/U 183.5, rushing 60.5
• BSU RB Ashton Jeanty rushing yards: O/U 169.5
• UNLV RB Jai’Den Thomas rushing yards: O/U 65.5
• BSU WR Cameron Camper receiving yards: O/U 59.5
• BSU WR Latrell Caples receivng yards: O/U 41.5
• BSU TE Matt Lauter receiving yards: O/U 36.5
• UNLV WR Ricky White receiving yards: O/U 83.5
• UNLV WR Jacob De Jesus receiving yards: O/U 32.5

Prop Bet: Boise State QB Madsen under 15.5 rushing yards

Mountain West Awards

The Mountain West All-Conference awards were announced this week, and Boise State junior RB Ashton Jeanty was voted Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Jeanty leads the FBS in all-purpose yards (199.17), rushing touchdowns (28), rushing yards (2,288), rushing yards per game (190.7), total points scored (174) and total touchdowns (29) and is second in rush yards per carry (7.33) and scoring (14.5). His 28 rushing TD’s are the most in the FBS since 2017.

When asked whether he’s thinking Friday night’s Mountain West championship game will be his last in a Boise State jersey on the iconic blue turf, Jeanty paused for a moment, and then answered with just three words: “Yes, I do.”

The Heisman Trophy finalist will be a first round NFL pick in next April’s draft when he comes out.

UNLV senior LB Jackson Woodard was voted Defensive Player of the Year. His 114 total tackles are top 20 in FBS. He ranked 6th in FBS with 17 tackles for loss.

UNLV senior WR Ricky White III was also 1st team All-Moutain West and also Special Teams Player of the Year while leading FBS with a school record four blocked punts this season.

Mountain West Freshman of the Year is UNLV kicker Caden Chittenden, who was also 1st team All Mountain West and his 25 made field goals rank No. 2 in FBS.

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson was named Mountain West Coach of the Year, which UNLV coach Barry Odom won last season.

Other Boise State 1st team All-Mountain West players included TE Matt Lauter, OL Kage Casey and Ben Dooley, DL Ahmed Hassanein and Jayden Virgin-Morgan, LB Marco Notarainni and UNLV OL Tiger Shanks, DB Jalen Catalon and punt returner Jacob De Jesus with kickoff returner Jacob De Jesus named 2nd team. UNLV quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams was also 2nd team QB after taking over as starter in the Rebels fourth game of the season. Other 2nd team All-Conference players included UNLV RB Jai’Den Thomas, OL Jalen St. John, DL Antonio Doyle, DB Johnathan Baldwin and Boise State DB Seyi Oladipo and DL Braxton Fely. Both teams placed five other players on the Honorable Mention team including Boise State QB Maddux Madsen.

Follow all the matchups, odds and watch and wager action including additional conference championship game the popularity of college football and sports betting continues to flourish and provide fans more excitement and engagement in the games.

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