The college football regular season is winding down, which means it’s time to look at the major conference races. In several conferences, teams in the hunt still have to play each other, which should make for an exciting finish.
American
Favorite: Central Florida (5-0 in conference)
Still alive: Louisville (5-1), Cincinnati (5-1), Houston (4-2), SMU (3-2)
UCF has survived close calls the last two weeks to remain unbeaten in conference. The Knights are expected to win their final three—home against Rutgers and South Florida; at SMU—but can probably lose one and still win the American. That’s because they already beat Louisville and should they find themselves tied with Cincinnati, UCF would probably win the tiebreaker by virtue of a better BCS ranking. Houston and SMU are not mathematically eliminated, but are eliminated by any other measure.
The Sportswriting of Andrew Kahn 