Rivalry games dominate college football in Week 13

No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 9 Stanford: I have yet to pick against the luck of the Irish this season, and the way they’ve played it would be hard to, as they seem to always find a way to win.

While Clemson and Alabama remained 1-2 in the rankings, there was some shakeup in the top four.

Trophies. They are all over college football, and now that “Rivalry Weekend” has arrived, fans will get their annual dose of knowledge bombs about the many pieces of hardware that exchange hands.

If Oklahoma prevails Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., the Sooners win the Big 12 championship.

If the Crimson Tide lose to Auburn and Mississippi beats Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, the Rebels would win the SEC West and face Florida in the league title game – eliminating Alabama from playoff contention.

No. 7 Baylor at No. 19 TCU: Both teams are now without its starting quarterbacks, but last week, TCU’s coach showed me one thing by going for two against Oklahoma.

All the Irish control is Saturday’s matchup with No. 9 Stanford, which provides one final opportunity to impress the selection committee – and remember that Notre Dame will not play on December 5, when the Hawkeyes and Spartans could meet to decide the Big Ten. Oklahoma clinches the conference with the win and possibly a playoff spot with its resume.

Clemson has an 11-0 record, including a ideal 8-0 mark in the ACC. The Tigers conclude their regular season on Saturday at noon at SC in a game that will be televised by ESPN. If the answer is no, enjoy the incredible rage that will break out when Jeff Long is forced to explain why the committee decided the Gators were one of the four best teams.

Unbeaten Iowa (11-0) and No. 5 Michigan State (10-1) can setup a possible playoff play-in game in the Big Ten championship if both win this weekend.

The Irish (10-1) likely did not impress the committee with Saturday night’s 19-16 win over Boston College (3-8) at Fenway Park. Oklahoma’s junior quarterback has been the catalyst in the Sooners’ surge during the second half of the season. Stanford (9-2) 10. MI (9-2) 11. Ohio State basically has no chance unless they reach the title game, and then they need help.

Clemson: The Tigers should breeze past rival SC but could be tested by North Carolina in the ACC championship game.

Last season TCU was third in the second-to-last playoff rankings and slipped to sixth in the final rankings, behind Ohio State and Baylor.

At this point a year ago, Ohio State was sitting at No. 6 in the committee’s ranking.

Here’s the simplest formula: A TCU win over Baylor and an Oklahoma State victory over Oklahoma would help clear the Big 12 out of Stanford’s path. Shaw’s team could then jump Notre Dame themselves and naturally leapfrog two of the three Big Ten teams ahead of them – that’d theoretically put the Cardinal at No. 4 to finish. Other games to watch include Baylor-TCU and Ohio State-Michigan. This might not bode well for the Big 12, again.

#15 Navy, #16 Northwestern: Both teams can win this weekend and it wouldn’t impact Michigan State as long as the Spartans win out.

The only other path to the playoffs assuming Oklahoma wins out would be for some chaos in the Big 10 or SEC. “So it’s more a function of how they’ve played and performed that has moved them past that loss to Texas”.

For the four teams below, Week 13 carries particular significance since they can either climb significantly in the polls or pass their biggest remaining hurdles on the schedule.

No. 18 Ole Miss at No. 21 Mississippi State: Ole Miss is down, but not out holding an outside chance of an SEC Championship berth with an Alabama loss.