It is the final week of the regular season before we jump into conference championship games, and everything hinges on the College Football Playoff at this point. There are so many things up in the air at this juncture, which makes this time of the year so much fun. From massive injuries to potential rivalry upsets, buckle in. Here are our Top 3 2023 College Football Games Week 13.
No. 2 Ohio State vs No. 3 Michigan
This is one of my favorite college football games that is played each year. These two fanbases might hate each other more than any other fanbase in the entire country. Both teams are having magical seasons, even if Michigan’s has a dark, investigative cloud of smoke above it. There will be no Jim Harbaugh on the sideline for this game which is truly a massive thing to factor in here. The Wolverines had a really hard time putting away Maryland a week ago and Ohio State is a whole lot better than that squad. The Buckeyes have allowed six total points over the last two weeks and now they get Michigan coming off a game where J.J. McCarthy threw for just 141 yards and Blake Corum was held to under 100 yards rushing. There is so much swirling around that Michigan locker room right now and I think at a certain point, it becomes a massive distraction to the program. Michigan may have won the last two in this heated rivalry, but I believe this is the year that Ryan Day gets his big win and sends Ohio State to the CFP semis. Prediction: Ohio State 30 Michigan 21
No. 16 Oregon State vs No. 6 Oregon
The final Civil War in the Pac 12 era, and for the foreseeable future, as these two schools have yet to work out an agreement to play each other in the future as the Ducks head to the Big 10 and the Beavers continue to try and figure out their future. Oregon still has a shot at the CFP even though they are on the outside looking out. If they win this game, they will be into the Pac 12 Championship game and a win over the impressive Washington Huskies would be enough for me to put them into the final mix. However, Oregon State is having an incredible season. They are coming off a brutal, close loss to Washington last week where they held the Huskies to just 22 point and claimed the ball for 15 more minutes than Washington. They imposed their run game on the Huskies but won’t do that as easily against Oregon who has one of the top run defenses in the country. Oregon has the nod on defense and Dan Lanning is really letting his influence on that side of the ball show this season. I see a really close game here, but I ultimately see Oregon escaping. Prediction: Oregon 28 Oregon State 24
No. 5 Florida State vs Florida
We likely wouldn’t have thought too much about this game a week ago because Florida State has been cruising and were still in the top four of the College Football Playoffs. However, their quarterback and leader Jordan Travis suffered a horrible leg injury during Saturday’s game and is lost for the season. The Seminoles now must turn to their backup Tate Rodemaker who will make his first start since the 2020 season. Florida hasn’t been very good this season and they also lost their QB Graham Mertz to a season-ending injury as well. Relying on a backup to get you through a huge rivalry game like this is tough. I would have predicted a 20-plus point win from FSU in this game a few weeks ago, but I think it is much closer now. Even worse for FSU, this game is being played in the Swamp and it will be loud. This is the exact situation that you would like to keep an inexperienced backup QB away from. I still like FSU to win, but I do think this thing stays close. Prediction: FSU 25 Florida 18