Who will win the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn? Can Michigan upset Ohio State? We’re picking winners from the biggest Week 13 college football games.
It’s Rivalry Week and that means we got some awesome college football games on the schedule. The schedule began a couple days ago with the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night and a handful of games on Friday, including that AAC showdown between USF and UCF. But, Saturday is the main event with the Iron Bowl and The Game headlining the week’s games, as they always do during Rivalry Week.
The Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn will decide the winner of the SEC West for the first time since the Kick-Six when Chris Davis returned a missed field goal for the game-winning touchdown for Auburn and they went on to play for the National Championship. That’s been a trend for the winner of this game. In fact, seven of the last eight years has seen the winner of this game play for the National Championship and this year could make that eight out of nine.
The Game also holds playoff implications, albeit to a lesser degree, as only Ohio State has their postseason hopes still alive. A lot of chaos needs to happen this Saturday and next for them to sneak in, but they have a chance and that’s more than Michigan can say.
Rivalry Week is more than just those greats as the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State sees the Cougars needing a win to win the Pac-12 North. At the same time, Stanford will be playing rival Notre Dame and needs Washington State to lose so they get to the Pac-12 Championship Game. From the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast where the Palmetto Bowl between Clemson and South Carolina gives the Gamecocks a chance to spoil their rival’s playoff hopes if they can upset the defending national champions in their home stadium.
So let’s pick some winners of these great rivalry games with my college football editor Jack Jorgensen who is feeling some upsets.
College Football Picks
Notre Dame vs. Stanford – 8:00 p.m. – ABC
- Schmidt: Stanford
- Jorgensen: Notre Dame
Palmetto Bowl: Clemson vs. South Carolina – 7:30 p.m. ET – ESPN
- Schmidt: Clemson
- Jorgensen: Clemson
The Apple Cup: Washington vs. Washington State – 8:00 p.m. – FOX
- Schmidt: Washington
- Jorgensen: Washington State
Next: NFL Draft: Projecting the first round
The Game: Michigan vs. Ohio State – 12:00 p.m. – FOX
- Schmidt: Ohio State
- Jorgensen: Ohio State
The Iron Bowl: Alabama vs. Auburn – 3:30 p.m. – CBS
- Schmidt: Alabama
- Jorgensen: Auburn
If Jorgensen’s Auburn pick comes true, we will have all sorts of chaos as the Crimson Tide will be out of the SEC Championship Game but could make a case as a one-loss non-champion to get in the playoff just as Ohio State did last year when they didn’t win the Big Ten but make the four-team field nonetheless. Nick Saban has never beat a nine-win Auburn team so perhaps he’s on to something, but even though Auburn is playing as well as any team not named Oklahoma right now, I gotta side with the Tide.
Overall Record: Schmidt 42-18, Jorgensen 32-28