College football guru Bill Connelly takes a quick look at the games on tap this Saturday in the College Football Conference title games...

SEC championship: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 3 Alabama (4 p.m., CBS)

Title defenses usually fail. Nick Saban's Alabama  has won six of the past 12 national titles but repeated as champion only once, in 2011-12. In the past 40 years, USC (2003-04) and Nebraska  (1994-95) are the only other teams to pull it off. The U never did, nor did Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles.

The champ is as wobbly as can be, and this feels like the moment Kirby Smart and Georgia finally get the better of Smart's former Tuscaloosa boss. Saban boasts a 24-1 record against his former assistants.

Big Ten championship: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 13 Iowa (8 p.m., Fox)
We know exactly what Iowa is going to try to do in virtually every game it plays; it's just a matter of whether it works. The Hawkeyes are going to run the ball constantly whether it goes anywhere or not. 
In the past two years, the Hawkeyes are 16-1 when allowing fewer than 24 points and 0-3 when allowing more. They are 4-4 when their turnover margin is zero or worse, and they are 12-0 when it's positive. They are 14-1 when their passers produce a rating over 100 and 2-3 when they don't. 

Big 12 championship: No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 9 Baylor (noon, ABC)
Mike Gundy's Cowboys probably aren't as good, top to bottom, as his 2011 team, but they're definitely different: The 2011 Cowboys averaged 49 points per game, while the 2021 Pokes have made waves by allowing only 16 points per game.

Different or not, with a Saturday win in Jerry World -- something trends seem to favor -- the Pokes will be well-positioned to make the final four. If Georgia beats Alabama as projected or either Iowa or Houston pulls an upset, OSU probably gets in.

AAC championship: No. 21 Houston at No. 4 Cincinnati (4 p.m., ABC)
Houston has finished in the AP top 10 within the past decade, has a New Year's Six bowl win to its name and boasts enough potential at all times to have drawn a Big 12 invitation despite falling into a 2019-20 funk. It's odd that the Cougars, of all teams, have managed to sneak up on us this year, but that's exactly what they've done.

While the CFP committee still has time to screw the Bearcats over even if they win, that appears less likely than it did a few weeks ago. Luke Fickell has the Cats on the doorstep, and at the moment, it appears he's going to remain in Cincinnati for a while longer despite the craziness of the coaching carousel. Everything's coming up Cincy, but Houston could make this final step awfully perilous.