College Football Off-Field Matchups- Championship Week
Georgia and Alabama meet yet again in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the SEC Championship
(Photo via WBRC News).
1 Georgia at 8 Alabama
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs meet Coach Saban and the Crimson Tide back in the SEC Championship for a high stakes rematch of their 2021 affair. The winner of the SEC championship has advanced to the College Football Playoff every year since the inception of the playoff in 2014, and the past four national champions have been the SEC champs as well. Alabama leads all time in SEC championships with 29 and Georgia is second in most SEC championships with 14, albeit they have had more success recently being the defending national champions. With a limited but crucial set of games scheduled for Championship weekend, ESPN College Gameday is choosing to head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship over other decisive conference championships. The game will be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It will be the seventh time the SEC Championship Game has been played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the 30th time it will be held in Atlanta. (NCAA.org) Of the SEC’s 11 major corporate sponsors, Marcedes-Benz and Dr. Pepper will likely be the most visible brands in Atlanta in and around the game. Dr. Pepper’s 27-year affiliation with the SEC makes it the most tenured sponsor for the SEC. Off the field, Dr. Pepper is planning a “Dr. Pepper SEC Fanfare” event on Friday and Saturday before the game at the Georgia World Congress Center. The event will feature a “T-Mobile Championship Concert” (featuring Darius Rucker), pre-game show SEC Nation broadcasting live, pep rallies, and pageantry of all sorts. The event is free admission and is being used to make the SEC championship more than just a football game, but a multiple day event that drives tourism up in the area and gives an interactive platform for the SEC’s most loyal sponsors.
2. 6 Oregon at 4 Washington
The Pac-12 will be no more after this season, and it all comes down to this to see who will be the last champion of the “Conference of Champions”. The final year of the Pac was about as exciting as you could draw up, and the bittersweet ending sees Oregon and Washington, both headed for the Big Ten next year, come out at the top of the conference in it’s final year. The conference that has been the home of the elite programs of the west originated all the way in 1915, and claims to have won more NCAA team national championships than any other conference in history, living up to it’s “Conference of Champions” moniker. With conference realignment and the pursuit of new media rights deals rocking college athletics, the Pac-12 essentially disintegrated in a matter of days over the offseason, making this year’s conference championship the last football game of the Pac-12 ever in it’s current form. (Oregon State and WSU are holding out hope to rebuild the conference, but that is looking like a long-shot). On the field, Oregon and Washington are looking forward to a rematch of their thriller earlier in the year that came down to a missed field goal, which ended up being Oregon’s only loss this season, and Washington has been able to keep it’s undefeated hope alive. Not only are Pac12 championship and CFP stakes on the line, but the QB’s for each team, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr., are semifinalists for the Maxwell Award and Heisman Trophy, with this game likely giving one of them an edge for the prestigious awards. The game will be played at the extraordinary Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which will also host the 2024 Super Bowl. Gas brand 76 will be the leading sponsor. For what feels like the series finale of a great show, the Pac-12 is going out with a bang with two of the best teams in the country facing off in one of the most impressive facilities in the world.
2 Michigan at 15 Iowa
After a thriller against arch-rival Ohio State, Michigan keeps it’s undefeated season alive and faces Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, who at 10-2 has found a way to keep winning despite the low scoring affairs they keep finding themselves in. The game will be hosted in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the leading sponsor is Discover. The Championship game brings a substantial impression to the city, in 2022 it was reported that over 70,000 people visited Indianapolis for the game and it brought in approximately $20 million worth of economic impact. Off the field, similar to the SEC Championship in Atlanta, the Big Ten has events planned throughout the week building up to the game. These events include a kickoff concert, two different youth football clinics, a collaboration with the Special Olympics, and a Dr. Pepper sponsored Big Ten Fan Fest. Even more, for $364 one could purchase a two-night parking pass to park their RV in the heart of Indianapolis to be a part of “Big Ten RV Nation” where the lots will be specifically set up for tailgating. The Big Ten and the city of Indianapolis put great effort into making this event worthwhile for fans across the country because the economic impact is beneficial for everyone involved