The American Athletic Conference Championship Game between the Tulane Green Wave and the SMU Mustangs isn't going to be the most notable championship game of the college football weekend, but it is one that comes with massive stakes. The winner of this game seems the most likely of the Group of Five teams to be eligible for a New Year's Bowl, which is massive for the program who earns that reward. It's the biggest stage that these programs can get and would be huge for their universities as a whole, especially their athletic departments. With that said, we'll be making our Tulane football ACC Championship predictions.

Both Tulane football and SMU had great seasons and ended their seasons very strong. Tulane went 11-1, with their only loss coming to Ole Miss when they were without their star starting quarterback in Michael Pratt. They just held off a feisty UTSA team by a final score of 29-16 to clinch their spot in this championship game. They do it with defense, while SMU wins with offense. SMU went 10-2 this season with their only two loss coming at the hands of Oklahoma and TCU. They have scored at least 31 points in all ten of their wins. They can score, and when they do, they do it in bunches.

This game looks like a contrast of styles, and as the saying goes: styles make fights. This should make for a great one. Having said that, it warrants some bold Tulane football ACC Championship predictions.

Makhi Hughes runs for at least 150 yards

Tyjae Spears used these high-profile Tulane games to firmly establish himself on NFL Draft radars. Makhi Hughes has the chance to do the same. Hughes' numbers aren't as gaudy as Spears' last year. Hughes is averaging 5.4 yards per carry and has just seven touchdowns on the year. But he is on a roll. He has racked up at least 100 yards on the ground in seven of his last eight games. The most came just last week, when Hughes rumbled for 166 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries in Tulane's 29-16 win over the UTSA Roadrunners.

SMU's run defense is solid. They allow 117.8 rushing yards per game, directly on par with the Georgia Bulldogs. That's not to say that SMU's run defense is as good as Georgia's, but they've been solid this season. But Tulane football has had control of the trenches in most of their games, and that should continue this week against SMU. And that should mean a big game for Hughes.

SMU fails to score more than 20 points vs. Tulane football

In SMU's 10 wins, they have scored at least 31 points. In their two losses, they haven't scored more than 17 points. This looks like a matchup where SMU won't get up to that threshold for a few reasons. For one, SMU's starting quarterback Preston Stone is out for the season and won't be available for this game. Stone has had a solid season. While he had only completed 59.9 percent of his passes on the year, he was averaging 9.3 yards per attempt and threw for 28 touchdowns compared to only six interceptions. Their backup is redshirt freshman Kevin Jennings, who has attempted only 46 passes in his collegiate career.

For another reason, Tulane football's defense is just very good. Tulane's defense ranks 30th in the country in yards allowed per game. They also rank sixth in rushing yards allowed per game. Furthermore, they are 18th in the nation in points per game allowed (SMU actually ranks higher than Tulane in this statistic). The Green Wave have also held opponents below 20 points in half of their games during the regular season, so they're clearly capable of such a performance. No one should be surprised if that happens again on Saturday.