College football look ahead: Week 13

by Chris Asbrock

This weekend is one of the best weekends in the season. This is rivalry weekend. The games that determine bragging rights for a year. Games that destroy the hopes and dreams of your rival. This is the weekend where you see intercity rivals and battles between state schools decided on the field. This season, like many seasons in the past, has a lot riding on this weekend. With the college football playoff being in its infancy, this weekend will go a long way in determining which four teams we will see in the playoff. Lets take a look at the storylines for this weekend and how the playoff layout looks to us. 

1. Michigan-Ohio State rivalry set to add new chapter

When Lloyd Carr retired from Michigan following the 2007 season, things looked pretty grim in this rivalry. Let’s be honest, Ohio State has owned this rivalry since that time period. The best part about this rivalry, much like any other rivalry, you can toss the records out window. It does not matter who has the better record or ranking coming into this game, you know it will be a battle. That is exactly what you can expect coming into this game. You can add the factor of the winner of this game, will play for the Big 10 championship IF Penn Sate upsets Michigan State.

When the Wolverines hired Jim Harbaugh you knew things were looking up for Michigan. Harbaugh knows about this rivalry. He has played in it. He’s lived it. The experience and knowledge that he will bring into this game, along with the swagger, will surely make this game a fun one to watch. Both fanbases can look forward to a rivalry that will surely come from this between Harbaugh and Urban Meyer. If Michigan can get the win, you can bet the stakes will be upped in Columbus. This will be one of the best games of the weekend and certainly one that should not be missed.

2. Which teams will prevail and play for a conference championship

In terms of the conference championship picture, this weekend will determine who will play for that title. There are still spots to be solidified in the Big 10, SEC and PAC 12, just to name a few. With the importance of the rivalry weekend, you will see some teams get left out of their conference championship game with a loss.


3. College football playoff to take shape

The implications for the playoff are extremely heavy this weekend. There are at least seven or eight games that will go a long way in determining the playoff four. There are the massive battles between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and obviously the Michigan/Ohio State game. Toss in the Stanford/Notre Dame matchup and the Florida State/Florida game, you have yourself quite the important set of games. Those are just a few of the games that have extreme importance.

The two biggest games are the ones in prime time when Notre Dame travels west to face Stanford and the Bedlam game in Stillwater. The playoff committee will have a doozy of a decision if both Oklahoma and Notre Dame win. Can the Big 12 be left out again of the playoff? Can Notre Dame be left out when they destroyed Texas, while Oklahoma lost to them? These are just some of the questions that can and should be answered with these games this weekend.

College Football Playoff Pairings:

Jin’s game picks (46–35 overall, 2–7 upset)

Navy over Houston
Baylor over TCU
Michigan over Ohio State
Alabama over Auburn
USC over UCLA
Mississippi State over Ole Miss
Stanford over Notre Dame
Florida over Florida State
Oklahoma State over Oklahoma