MAC/PAC 12 Championship Games Open Game Thread

It’s Championship Weekend, and we kick things off tonight with two conference title games.

The second of the two is the hotly-anticipated Pac-12 Championship Game matchup between the resurgent Colorado Buffaloes and the playoff-seeking Washington Huskies. Lots of nice storylines here, with both teams finally back in the national spotlight after years of wandering in the wilderness. That game kicks off at 8pm CT on Big FOX.

But before that, Western Michigan will aim for a perfect 13-0 regular season in the MAC Championship as they take on Frank Solich’s Ohio Bobcats at 6pm on ESPN2. This should, by all rights, be a victory lap for the Broncos, as the MAC West dominated the East all season and the Broncos themselves dominated the West. The bigger story this weekend is that this may actually be WMU’s final opportunity to play a team with a winning record.

Why’s that? Because if Navy wins the American Championship Game tomorrow, and then beats Army next weekend, Western Michigan may have to settle for a bid to the freakin’ Heart of Dallas Bowl.

The bowl which would normally feature the Big Ten’s ninth-ranked team.

A bowl in which their opponent may end up being 5-7 North Texas.

It’s an absurd and insulting situation for an unbeaten team to be facing. Were I in charge of things in Kalamazoo, my response to said situation would be to flatly and loudly refuse to even play in that bowl game, because the attention from doing so would dwarf any benefit from playing North Texas.

But enough of that. Let’s watch some football.