College Football Weekend Watch Party: Iowa-Michigan State Tops The Conference Championship Slate

Every Friday, we'll tell you which college football game you absolutely need to watch that weekend, even if it's flying under the radar. It might not always be the matchup of the two best teams, but it will definitely be the most entertaining contest. Because fun is what college football is all about, right?

With the regular season essentially over—we haven't forgotten you, Army-Navy!—it's time for the made-for-TV-cash-grabs conference championship games. And that means the final VICE Sports College Football Weekend Watch Party has a slightly different format: We're ranking this weekend's championships based on watchability and intrigue, and making a prediction for each one.

Let's get started:

The SEC likes to believe it features the most exciting football in the country, but … oof. This one could get ugly. Florida clinched a spot in the championship game long ago, only that was largely due to the standout play of quarterback Will Grier, who was suspended for the rest of the season in mid-October. Since then, the Gators' offense has gotten progressively worse, and they're coming off a desultory 27-2 loss to Florida State at The Swamp.

Meanwhile, Alabama is still really, really good. Possibly the best team in the country. Amazingly, the Crimson Tide wouldn't be here if it weren't for Arkansas' miracle last-second play to beat Ole Miss. But they're here, and they're better in every phase than Florida; in particular, Nick Saban's defense is characteristically smothering. The spread on this one is 18 points—almost quadruple any of the weekend's other spreads. If you want chaos (a Watch Party hallmark), you'll have to point your remote control elsewhere.

Prediction: Alabama 31, Florida 10

The winner of this game will be in a New Year's Six Bowl. And that, by itself, is pretty amazing. Then again, it has been a stellar year for the American Athletic Conference, which currently has three teams ranked in the College Football Playoff committee's poll and has had as many as four teams ranked at different times. No other non-power conference has had more than one. Kudos are in order.

Now, for the game itself: Houston has become America's darling under first-year head coach Tom Herman. The Cougars have just one loss, and own an impressive win over Louisville. Before Houston got popular, Temple was college football's feel-good story. The Owls beat Penn State in the season opener, tallying 10 sacks (!) in the process, and nearly took down Notre Dame. Can Temple keep up with Houston's outstanding offense? The answer to that question will determine the victor in this one.

Prediction: Houston 38, Temple 34

This should probably be higher on the watchability scale, because I'm predicting a very fun game, but it's a bit lower on the intrigue scale, given that the winner probably won't make the College Football Playoff. USC has no chance of getting in, but Stanford—despite having two losses and some other close calls—could slip in with an Alabama or Clemson loss this weekend. Of course, that assumes the Cardinal jump over Ohio State.

Stanford and USC played in September, and the Cardinal won 41-31 in Los Angeles. However, this is a completely different USC team that's playing better under interim-turned-head coach Clay Helton than it was under fired coach Steve Sarkisian. Stanford has a great offense, but it's defense has been susceptible to big plays, ranking No. 91 nationally in opponent explosiveness according to the S&P+ ratings. With star quarterback Cody Kessler and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC has the ability to exploit that deficiency. We see the Trojans pulling an upset.

Prediction: USC 40, Stanford 38

North Carolina is a conundrum. After inexplicably losing their season opener to 3-9 South Carolina, the Tar Heels have won 11 straight games in convincing fashion behind a powerful offense. But the Playoff committee really doesn't like North Carolina, who have played two FCS teams and nobody else very good. Could they jump into the Playoff with a win over the No. 1 in the country? It's doubtful, but there's a chance.

On the other side, Clemson just needs to win to get in, and the Tigers might not even need that. They already have wins over two top 10 teams—Notre Dame and Florida State—and they've dominated pretty much everyone else this season. North Carolina might have the best offense the Tigers have seen, which will be a stiff test for Clemons big play defense. Expect the Tar Heels to put up a bigger fight than Clemson has seen all season, but ultimately, we think the Tigers will win out.

Prediction: Clemson 31, North Carolina 27

The winner of this game is in the Playoff, no questions asked. That's why ESPN's College Gameday is in town, and that's why this game is the one you need to tune into Saturday night. (Speaking of which: why most of the games are being held at the same time is beyond us. Maybe conference schedule-makers and television executives should, like, talk to each other?)

Iowa comes into this game 12-0, with a lot of wins over pretty good teams, but no tests against anyone as good as Michigan State. If you haven't seen the Hawkeyes play, know this: they aren't your typical Iowa team. The defense is disciplined, yet manages to make big plays. The offense has outstanding playmakers in quarterback C.J. Beathard and a four-man rotation of running backs.

Michigan State was left for dead after losing at Nebraska and barely beating Purdue and Rutgers, but the Spartans now own last-second road wins over Michigan and Ohio State. This isn't as dominant of a team as Mark Dantonio has had in the past, but it has an incredible front four on defense and a first team All-Big Ten quarterback in Connor Cook.

Stereotypically, Iowa and Michigan State are known for their hard-hitting defenses and running games, but this one will actually come down to the passing game. MSU should be able to move the ball on Iowa, which will take away the deep ball, while Iowa should have success throwing deep against an inexperienced secondary that gives up a lot of big plays. We've picked against the Hawkeyes all year—full disclosure: your author is from Iowa and never believed they could be this good, so perhaps he's biased in both directions—but this one feels different. Iowa's bend-don't-break defense will drive some fans mad, but ultimately, we see them compiling a few more big plays and coming out on top.

Prediction: Iowa 30, Michigan State 27