The biggest college football game for Week 13 is definitely not what you think it is

Week 13 of the 2024 college football season is going to be so much more appetizing than Cupcake Week from years' past. Yes, my alma mater of Georgia may be hosting UMass ahead of hosting in-state rival Georgia Tech for some Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate on the final day of November, but the rest of the sport is doing its part to keep me intrigued while I do birthday things with my girlfriend.

The most marquee game of the week will be Indiana at Ohio State. The Hoosiers are 10-0 and have yet to lose a game this season. Ohio State is 9-1 with a win over Penn State, but a loss to Oregon. Both teams seem like locks at this point to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field. It really comes down to what happens next week vs. Purdue and Michigan for these respective contenders.

Another game that should do numbers will be one-loss Notre Dame hosting undefeated Army. If the Fighting Irish win, all they would need is a win over a struggling USC team to get to 11-1 and make the playoff as an at-large team. Army pretty much needs to beat Notre Dame, Tulane for the AAC Championship and then Navy to get in. The Black Knights also need for Boise State to lose yet again.

And that leaves us with the game of most significance this week. Shockingly, that would be one-loss BYU going to two-loss Arizona State in the midafternoon slate. BYU losing to Kansas, combined with Arizona State beating Kansas State means that the winner of this game will probably be the team going up against presumably Colorado in the Big 12 Championship for a spot in the 12-team playoff.

BYU at Arizona State is the most important game of the Week 13 slate

BYU losing to a much-improved Kansas team not only keeps the Jayhawks' slim bowl bid dreams alive, but it does not push the Cougars down considerably when it comes to their overall likelihood of making the playoff. Colorado looks like the team to beat in the Big 12. While the Buffaloes' losses to Nebraska and Kansas State are bad and are getting worse, they look like a team no one wants to play.

While Arizona State may need Kansas State to beat Iowa State in Farmageddon to ensure that they will be getting to the Big 12 Championship Game with a 10-2 record, they would own the tiebreaker over BYU with a win. Arizona State's only other opponent is a reeling Arizona Wildcats team in Territorial. BYU will benefit from a huge win over Arizona State, as that would be over a ranked team.

A loss for either team knocks them out of the playoff picture entirely. While a win keeps the dream alive for at least one more week, I wonder if an ascending Arizona State team is ready enough to face Colorado in a rivalry game that I like to call The Pre-Game, but it is being played one time zone over in Arlington, Texas? Regardless, the winner of BYU at Arizona State becomes a real playoff contender.

And some people said that playoff expansion was bad for the sport? It just makes the games better!