Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica’s 2024 College Football Week 15 ‘Bear Bytes’

It’s championship weekend in college football.

That means this week and the next few weeks will be exciting for fans who love football and for bettors looking for fun ways to wager a few bucks, as the Playoff draws nearer.

I’ve already given you my best bets for championship weekend, but now it’s time to have a little fun with my “Bear Bytes.”

These little “bytes,” as I call them, are just nuggets that give you some entertaining talking points to pull from as you watch the football festivities with friends and family or banter with your coworkers at the water cooler. Here are the biggest nuggets that stuck out to me while doing my research.

Conference Championship Games

Each Power 4 conference title game has a spread under four points. That would the first time that’s happened. In the last six years, there have been a total of three such games in those four leagues. All-time, there have been a total of 17 in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC title games. Six of those 17 were won by the underdog. 

Last year there were two upsets in the current Power 4 conference title games. In the previous six years there were a total of two. 

(All times ET)

FRIDAY, DEC. 6

Boise State vs. UNLV (8 p.m., FOX/FOX Sports App)
Mountain West Championship

Boise State has won 13 straight home games against conference opponents, each decided by at least seven points. Since 2013, the Broncos are 41-5 at home against conference opponents. 

Tulane vs. Army (8 p.m., ABC)
AAC Championship

In two meetings with Army while at Troy, Jon Sumrall beat Army 19-0 and 10-9 in 2022 and 2023. Army ran for 4.5 and 3.4 yards per cary in those two games. 

SATURDAY, DEC. 7

Oregon vs. Penn State (8 p.m., CBS)
Big Ten Championship

Penn State has dropped its last 13 pre-bowl games against top-10 opponents since winning the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game. In four of its last six such games, Penn State has scored zero or one offensive TD. If you include bowls, Penn State is 1-14 in its last 15 games vs top-10 teams. 

Each of the last seven Big Ten Championship Games has been won by the favorite. Penn State was the last underdog to win, beating Wisconsin in 2016. 

Penn State has dropped nine straight games as an underdog and is 1-15 in its last 16 games as a dog. 

Georgia vs. Texas (4 p.m., ABC)
SEC Championship

Underdogs have won two of the last three SEC title games. In the previous 19, two underdogs won outright. 

Since 2021, when Georgia won its first national title under Kirby Smart, the Dawgs have been an underdog twice. UGA won both games, over Clemson in 2021 and at Texas earlier this year, allowing a combined 18 points. 

Excluding Texas, six SEC teams won nine games. Texas faced only one — Georgia — and lost at home by 15 points. 

Clemson vs. SMU (8 p.m., ABC)
ACC Championship

Florida State’s 16-6 win over Louisville as a one-point underdog in last year’s ACC Championship Game snapped an 11-year run in which the favorite won the ACC title game. 

Four ACC teams went 2-6 or worse in conference play. SMU played three of them. Eight ACC teams went 3-5 or worse in conference play. SMU played five (of its eight conference games).

There have been 36 teams in the current Power 4 leagues that reached the conference title game with at least three overall losses. Those 36 teams have gone 8-28 (1-10 since 2016). The six that were either favored or were an underdog of a field goal or less have gone 3-3. 

Arizona State vs. Iowa State (noon, ABC)
Big 12 Championship

In the last 14 Big 12 title games, there has been just one upset: Baylor over Oklahoma State in 2021.

This is the first time since the Iowa game that the Cyclones are an underdog. Iowa State has won four of its last five games as a ‘dog. 

Iowa State is 2-1 in games decided by four points or fewer this year. The Cyclones were 2-7 in their previous nine such games. 

Seven Big 12 teams finished with an overall losing record. Iowa State faced five of them. Arizona State faced six, but also beat 10-2 BYU and 8-4 Kansas State. 

Chris “The Bear” Fallica has covered sports for nearly three decades. While college football has been his focus, he also enjoys the NFL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MLB, NHL and Horse Racing, with an “occasional” wager on such events. Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the Top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He’s a multiple-time qualifier for the NHC Handicapping Championship. Remember, “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!” Follow him on Twitter @chrisfallica.

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