ESPN College GameDay 2020: TV Schedule and Predictions for Week 16 Location

There are some exciting matchups during conference championship weekend. But none of them are better than the one in the ACC Championship Game.

No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Clemson are set to go head-to-head for the ACC title at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday evening. The Tigers are looking to win their sixth straight conference title, while the Fighting Irish (a temporary ACC member) will be aiming to win it for the first and perhaps only time.

ESPN's College GameDay is heading to Charlotte to preview the matchup and the rest of the upcoming action, as it will air live beginning at 9 a.m. ET. It's the second time that the show will be in Charlotte (the first was for the 2017 ACC Championship Game), but this time, there won't be fans in attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's the schedule for the conference championship games, along with predictions and a closer look at the matchup between Notre Dame and Clemson.

Conference Championship Schedule, Predictions

Friday, Dec. 18

Pac-12 Championship: Oregon at No. 13 USC, 8 p.m. ET, Fox

Saturday, Dec. 19

Big Ten Championship: No. 14 Northwestern vs. No. 4 Ohio State, noon ET, Fox

Big 12 Championship: No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Iowa State, noon ET, ABC

ACC Championship: No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 2 Notre Dame, 4 p.m. ET, ABC

SEC Championship: No. 7 Florida vs. No. 1 Alabama, 8 p.m. ET, CBS

AAC Championship: No. 23 Tulsa vs. No. 9 Cincinnati, 8 p.m. ET, ABC

Picks in bold.

ACC Championship Game Preview, Prediction

Not only will Saturday's Notre Dame-Clemson game decide this year's ACC champion, but it also has huge implications for the College Football Playoff. One of these teams will reach the CFP. There's even a strong chance that both will—but that's not a guarantee.

The playoff committee could have a tough decision to make, but it won't be when it comes to Notre Dame. Even if the Fighting Irish lose, they beat Clemson earlier in the season (a 47-40 victory in double overtime Nov. 7), and they enter this matchup at 10-0. It's unlikely a loss in the ACC Championship Game would bump Notre Dame out of the top four spots.

If Clemson wins the ACC title, it will reach the CFP considering it's already ranked No. 3 and would have avenged its loss to Notre Dame. But what if the Tigers lose to the Fighting Irish again?

They could still reach the Playoff if deemed the most deserving candidate, but if Clemson suffers a lopsided defeat, it's quite possible it will miss the CFP for the first time since the 2014 season (the first year of the Playoff format). There's never been a two-loss team to make the College Football Playoff, so history wouldn't be on the Tigers' side.

For Saturday's game, Clemson will have one key player who missed November's matchup against Notre Dame: junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Tigers' offensive leader tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the season, and the loss to Notre Dame was one of the two games he sat out.

Lawrence knows what it takes to win important games. He's led Clemson to the ACC championship and a College Football Playoff berth each of the past two seasons, and he won the national title as a freshman in the 2018 campaign.

While Lawrence didn't face Notre Dame earlier this season, his teammates did. However, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney doesn't believe that meeting will have a huge impact on this one.

"You certainly can learn from your first matchup, but at the end of the day, it comes down to execution and taking care of the ball," Swinney said, according to John Fineran of the Associated Press. "You have to go make plays. I don't necessarily think you trick people in games like this. You have to out-execute them."

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly also shared what he thinks will be the keys to the game.

"I don't think this game is about who out-schemes who," Kelly said, per Fineran. "I think in three areas: physicality, playmakers making plays and the fundamentals of the game. Those will be how we prepare moving forward than trying to get too involved in out-scheming."

Don't be surprised if this game is just as close as the first meeting. These are two of the top teams in the country, and the stakes are higher than they were when they faced off in November. Notre Dame and Clemson are both going to bring their best in a matchup that is likely to come down to the wire.

However, over the previous five years, Clemson has had only one two-loss season. And with the Tigers needing a win more to solidify their spot in the College Football Playoff, they are not going to come up short, especially with Lawrence leading the team.

Notre Dame will make things close, but Clemson will hold on late for a huge victory and another ACC title.

Prediction: Clemson 38, Notre Dame 34