5 Biggest College Football Conference Championship Upsets of All Time

All 10 college football conferences will play championship games this weekend. The winner of the game decides the College Football Playoff spots. There have been many upsets during the championship weekend in the past.

2005 MAC Championship: Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30. 2008 Conference USA Championship : East Carolina 27, Tulsa 24. 2011 Conference USA Championship Southern Mississippi 49, Houston 28. 2020 MAC Championships: Ball State 38, 23 Buffalo 28, and 7 Houston.

The 2005 ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville featured Bobby Bowden and Frank Beamer. The Hokies were 10-1 and ranked No. 5, while Florida State was on a three-game losing streak. Willie Reid’s 83-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter spurred a string of 24 straight FSU points. Virginia Tech scored the game”s final 19 points, but that was not enough.

Buffalo upset Ball State in the 2008 MAC Championship Game in Detroit. Ball St. was 12-0 and had played just one game decided by fewer than 12 points. Buffalo was 7-5 and a 15-point underdog.

Kansas State upset Texas A&M 36-33 in overtime in the 1998 Big 12 Championship Game. Sirr Parker scored the winning touchdown on the second possession of overtime. The game was played in St. Louis. The Wildcats were a 17.5-point favorite.

Kansas State upset Oklahoma 35-7 in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium. The Sooners would go on to play in Sugar Bowl for the national championship but lost to Nick Saban and LSU. The Big12 did away with the championship game in 2010.

Texas upset Nebraska in the 1996 Big 12 Championship Game. Texas racked up more than 500 yards of offense and scored the game-winning touchdown with less than nine minutes to play. Priest Holmes rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns. The game ended Nebraska's hopes of threepeating as national champions.