CFB Championship Week Matchups To Watch

Welcome to college football championship weekend and a slate of games that will see prospects solidify their 2025 NFL Draft evaluations. While results undoubtedly force second opinions and readjustment of the CFP 12-team playoff bracket, Friday and Saturday can’t get here soon enough. 

With the kickoff of the AAC and Mountain West title games just a tick over 24 hours away, here are a few matchups and NFL draft names to know in the final weekend of football (sans the Army-Navy game) before the CFP arrives. 

Georgia EDGEs Jalon Walker & Mykel Williams vs. Texas OTs Kelvin Banks Jr & Cameron Williams

Version two of this matchup will occur Saturday, but this time with much, much more on the line for both programs. Georgia doubled up Texas 30-15 back in October, but the lights of an SEC championship and the eyes of the CFP committee and of the NFL world hold a different amount of weight. 

Each of the four athletes is expected to hear their names called in the top 35 picks come April, and a standout performance for either player against future core pieces on an NFL roster can hold massive amounts of weight in the eyes of scouts. With so much still up in the air when it comes to nailing down a prospect pecking order in the draft cycle, Texas-Georgia will be the headliner of the weekend slate, with attention glued to the trenches.

UNLV WR Ricky White vs. Boise State DB A’Marion McCoy

Everyone wants to watch Ashton Jeanty, but if UNLV wants to keep pace with the Broncos it’ll come via the play of White and his ability to separate on the perimeter. Opposite of him will be McCoy, one of the country’s most underrated aerial stalwarts who has 10 PBUs and a pick to his name this fall at 6-foot-flat with excellent hips and pure coverage ability. Both players have their names circled from teams as potential late-day-two or early-day-three selections.

Oregon OTs Josh Conerly Jr. & Ajani Cornelius vs. Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter

What a matchup this will be for the Oregon OTs. Carter, my personal top-ranked edge rusher in the class, has all the tools in the bag to beat opponents one-on-one with the versatility and range to wrangle down ball-carriers in space or drop into coverage. He’s as explosive as they come in the country, with the blend of power and speed that have drawn comparisons to Micah Parsons, a former standout himself in Happy Valley. 

On the other side, both Conerly and Cornelius have been sensational for the No. 1 ranked Ducks in 2024 and enter the Big Ten title game with just three sacks allowed combined all year, with zero given up since Week 2. Conerly has some first-round buzz surrounding his name currently, and limiting Carter will go a long way for scouts in attendance.

Name to know: SMU EDGE Elijah Roberts

Roberts has some of the most dominant tape from an edge rusher as you’ll see in the country. At 290-plus pounds, he can align inside with his hand in the dirt and beat opposing guards or bump out to 5-tech and blow an offensive tackle off of their feet.

Roberts was snubbed with his selection as an Honorable Mention All-ACC defender this fall, and I think he takes it out a little bit on Clemson this weekend. Roberts has been dominant every week he straps up for the Mustangs, and I don’t expect things to change this weekend with a CFP berth on the line.