Week 13 of the college football season is an atypical slate with many of the top playoff contenders either on bye, playing strategically-scheduled games vs. lower-tier competition to gear up for rivalry week, or simply with favorable matchups.
No. 2-ranked Indiana, No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 6 Ole Miss are on byes.
No. 3 Texas A&M scheduled Samford, No. 4 Georgia paid Charlotte to come for a beatdown in Athens and No. 10 Alabama slotted Eastern Illinois in this week between playing Oklahoma and the Iron Bowl with Auburn.
And then the schedule just breaks well for No. 1 Ohio State (vs. Rutgers) and No. 9 Notre Dame (vs. Syracuse).
But all is not lost for college football fans this weekend.
There are two matchups between ranked opponents with major College Football Playoff ramifications, plus a few other games worth finding a screen for Saturday.
Here are the five best games to watch.
(All game times ET; all point spreads from ESPN Bet.)
No. 15 USC (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) at No. 7 Oregon (9-1, 6-1)
3:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS
The Big Ten gives us the game of the week in college football.
Oregon has been a top-10 team all season, but it hasn’t been quite as dominant as it was last year in rolling into the playoffs at 13-0 with a Big Ten championship. Barring No. 1 Ohio State losing to rival Michigan (yet again) next week (or Indiana … not getting on the bus to Purdue next week?), the Buckeyes and Hoosiers will be playing for the Big Ten championship.
That means Oregon and USC are duking it out to be the conference’s potential third playoff team (along with Michigan, if it scores the major upset next week). With five SEC teams in the top 10 of the CFP rankings (not including 8-2 Vanderbilt, which is also in the playoff conversation), the ACC, Big 12 and highest-ranked Group of Five champions assured of spots, and No. 9 Notre Dame seemingly in control of its playoff path, that leaves just three spots for the Big Ten on the 12-team bracket.
Of course, plenty could change between now and then, but the Ducks and Trojans should be looking at Saturday as a playoff elimination game.
It definitely is for USC, which already has two losses and needs this top-10 road win to go with ranked wins over Michigan and Iowa (and its two losses coming to currently-ranked Notre Dame and Illinois) to make its CFP resume.
Oregon is a double-digit-point favorite, but that may be too much.
Yes, Autzen Stadium is a tough place for visiting teams and Lincoln Riley’s road record in the Big Ten is … oof. (Riley’s only Big Ten road wins since the Trojans debuted in the conference last year were over crosstown rival UCLA in 2024 and Purdue and Nebraska this year. While they’ve lost at Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington last year and Illinois this season.)
But USC is playing with real momentum after three straight wins and rallying from a 14-point deficit to beat Iowa last week. The Trojans have a top-10 national offense, a Biletnikoff Award contender in Makai Lemon (71 receptions for 1,090 yards and 8 TDs), a capable rushing attack and a playmaking QB will take shots downfield.
Oregon’s QB Dante Moore, meanwhile, has struggled in the team’s two biggest games. He threw for just 186 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs while taking 6 sacks in the 30-20 home loss to Indiana last month, and passed for just 112 yards, 0 TDs and 1 pick in the 18-16 win at Iowa two weeks ago (albeit while making a beautiful clutch throw on the game-winning field goal drive).
If Oregon loses this one, it will be a major disappointment after coach Dan Lanning had elevated the program another notch in each of his first three seasons, including a playoff appearance last year.
USC, meanwhile, has a chance to assert that it’s back to some level under Riley — at least on a different trajectory after disappointing seasons in 2023 and 2024. If it loses, though, the questions will mount about his ability to win big road games needed to truly compete on a national level.
Oregon is a 10.5-point favorite
No. 23 Missouri (7-3, 3-3 SEC) at No. 8 Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2)
12 p.m. Saturday on ABC
College football has taught us time and again over the years that teams coming off an incredible emotional high and momentous victory are ripe for a letdown the next week, and in this case Oklahoma follows its 23-21 upset win at then-No. 4 Alabama with a fourth straight ranked opponent in Missouri.
Also, it’s important context to note that the Sooners’ stunning win over Alabama was the result of a pick-6, a fumbled punt return that set up an Oklahoma touchdown and another costly Crimson Tide fumble leading to a field goal. The Sooners were actually outgained 406 yards to 212 by Alabama and are a limited offensive team in general.
Missouri hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent all season, but it was competitive in losses to Alabama and at Vanderbilt, and it has arguably the best running back in the country. Ahmad Hardy leads all FBS players with 1,346 rushing yards along with 15 TDs and is coming off a historic game with 300 rushing yards and 3 TDs vs. Mississippi State for just the sixth 300-yard rushing game in SEC history.
Oklahoma is a 6.5-point favorite
Pittsburgh (7-3, 5-1 ACC) at No. 16 Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1)
7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Georgia Tech was slotted significantly lower than any other one-loss team in the latest CFP rankings — five spots below BYU — for two reasons.
First, the Yellow Jackets don’t have any truly notable wins. Clemson by 3 points? Wake Forest by a point? Duke?
And then their last two games they lost 48-36 at NC State and had to rally to hold off a truly bad Boston College team, 36-34.
That said, they are fun to watch with premier senior dual-threat QB Haynes King, who has 2,259 passing yards, 10 TDs and 2 INTs along with 807 rushing yards and 14 TDs. And Georgia Tech is playing for a shot at the ACC championship and CFP.
But Pittsburgh might well be the better of the two teams here. The Panthers lost big to Notre Dame last week but had won five straight before that, led by gunslinging true freshman QB Mason Heintschel
Georgia Tech is a 2.5-point favorite
No. 11 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) at Cincinnati (7-3, 5-2)
8 p.m. Saturday on FOX
By ranking one-loss BYU behind three two-loss teams at No. 11, the CFP committee has made it clear that the Cougars need to win out to make it on the 12-team bracket.
And that puts them in a uniquely tough spot, as winning out means playing in the Big 12 championship game with what would surely bring a rematch against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders gave BYU its only loss, just a couple weeks ago, and it was definitive 29-7.
So for as great of a season as BYU has had, its odds of having it end in the playoffs are pretty slim.
But before even considering the Big 12 championship game, the Cougars have to get through a tough road matchup at Cincinnati on Saturday.
The Bearcats had won seven straight and were themselves in the playoff picture before back-to-back losses at Utah and against Arizona.
But if they beat BYU, and depending on what else happens in the Big 12, they could force a convoluted tiebreaker for that second championship game spot vs. Texas Tech.
This is a fun matchup that isn’t getting enough attention this week.
BYU is a 2.5-point favorite
Montana State (9-2, 7-0 Big Sky) at Montana (11-0, 7-0)
2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
That’s right — we’re talking a little FCS football!
And at that level, it doesn’t get any better than the “Brawl of the Wild” between historic rivals Montana State and Montana. The series goes back to 1897.
The Bobcats (Montana State) reached the FCS national championship game last season (losing to North Dakota State), while the Grizzlies (Montana) reached the national championship game the previous year. The rivals have combined for three FCS national titles, but none since 2001.
But they enter this showdown with the Grizz ranked No. 2 and the Cats No. 3 in the FCS national poll and as the only teams unbeaten in the Big Sky Conference.
So the stakes are high — and so is the demand among Montanans to get into the stadium in Missoula on Saturday.
It may be worth peeking in on for the casual fan as well.
Montana State, which took its two losses at Oregon and vs. South Dakota State (No. 22 in the FCS poll now), is a 2.5-point favorite (per FanDuel).