Championship weekend will set the stage

Just nine months ago, spring sports were canceled, including conference basketball tournaments and the NCAA Tournament.

It was widely predicted the coronavirus would shut down sports for the rest of 2020.

Instead, most conferences conferred with medical experts and forged ahead with altered schedules, mostly delayed and with greatly reduced attendance.

Going into championship weekend, there are seven undefeated teams, including Ohio State, which played just five games but will face Northwestern at 11 a.m. Saturday for the Big Ten championship and an invite to the College Football Playoffs.

The Wildcats are a decent team and have a great shot of an upset if the Buckeyes don’t show or turn the ball over 11 times.

In seven games, they scored 177 points and 43 of those were in the season opener against Maryland.

Ohio State outscored its opponents by an average of 46-23.

Not sure if that is worth getting up early to watch, and it may be over at the half, but if Northwestern out-smarts OSU that would put the Playoff Selection Committee on overdrive.

It is expected the winner of the ACC game between Notre Dame and Clemson will also be playoff bound, and if it is the Tigers, the feeling is the Fighting Irish will still get in.

Like covid fatigue, yours truly has Clemson and Alabama fatigue.

More on the Crimson Tide when we get to our final week of predictions.

A couple of the undefeated teams have been interesting to watch.

Coastal Carolina was a bear all season, marching through the Sun Belt Conference and had a major win over previously undefeated Brigham Young.

People in Arkansas have tried not to think about San Jose State for a couple of years, but the Spartans are 6-0 and play Boise State at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Mountain West Championship Game.

The Spartans quarterback is Nick Starkel, who spent last season as part of an Arkansas quarterback rotation that was puzzling at best.

This season, Starkel has completed 106 of 160 attempts with just 4 interceptions — total, not in a game — for 1,448 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Went 4-1 with last week’s picks to bring the total to 51-21.

There are just three games this week, the SEC Championship Game and two make-up games.

FLORIDA VS. ALABAMA

As much fun as it might be to see the Playoff Selection Committee squirm, if Alabama loses to a two-loss Florida, the Crimson Tide will still get the invite because it beat Texas A&M.

This game features two of the three Heisman finalists in Florida quarterback Kyle Trask and Bama quarterback Mac Jones. Most likely the winner gets the Heisman.

Trask has passed for 3,717 yards and Jones for 3,321, but Jones has thrown 85 fewer passes. He did have DeVonta Smith to throw to and Smith may be invited to New York for the Heisman presentation, too.

Doubt Jones will be sitting out part of the second half as this one will not be settled midway through the third quarter. It kicks off at 7 p.m. and should be finished by 11 p.m., hopefully. Alabama 49-38

MISSOURI AT MISSISSIPPI STATE

The Bulldogs are riding a three-game losing streak, but they are playing better. The Tigers might be able to improve their bowl situation. Mississippi State 21-17

OLE MISS AT LSU

The Tigers are foregoing a bowl but will be there for the Magnolia Bowl, a rivalry that dates back 75 years. The Rebels have won three in a row, but it was against Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Mississippi State. LSU 28-24