Conference USA Championship Game
Saturday, Dec. 2 – North Texas vs Florida Atlantic, 11:00 a.m. CT, FAU Stadium, ESPN2
As much as USC, Tennessee, and Alabama fans love to complain about him, Lane Kiffin is proving himself a pretty successful coach this year with the Florida Atlantic Owls. They are 9-3, with losses to Navy, Wisconsin, and Buffalo. As a disclaimer, they have not lost a game since September, riding an 8-game winning streak. They have a very solid offense, capable of scoring and piling up yards quickly.
This is one of the games I would put in the “okay to miss” column. By all measures, North Texas is probably going to lose. S&P+ has FAU favored by nine, and a lot of Vegas bookies have set lines in the double digits.
Florida Atlantic might be on its way to a 10-win season in Lane Kiffin’s first year. Strangely enough, this is not going to get him out of Boca Raton during the upcoming coaching carousel, but that may be due to Lane waiting for a better job than Tennessee becoming available.