We’ve played 13 Weeks, and only Rivalry Week of the 2019 college football season remains. Each week during the season our panel of experts will rank the Top 12 teams in college football. This season our panel includes: Rob Shields, Mike Lowe, Zack Kiesel, Brian (Pedro Cerrano) McGuire, Chris (Ricker Says) Ricker, Steve Birrer, and Chris Stoner. We are looking forward to another exciting season of college football and race to the College Football Playoff.
Week 13 saw two teams have their College Football Playoff hopes extinguished. First, despite a valiant comeback Penn State lost at #2 Ohio State, clinching the Big Ten East for the Buckeyes. Meanwhile Oregon’s woes in the desert continued, as they fell to Arizona State, in what seems like their umpteenth straight loss when they have had to play in that state. The Ducks will still play for the Pac-12 Championship, but only likely South Division winner Utah still has hopes of moving into a Playoff spot. And in case any of you are wondering why 6-5 Utah State appears at #12 this week with 1 first place vote, the lesson here is never bet on football games, folks.
Now it’s on to Week 14, a.k.a. Rivalry Week. This coming Saturday should not disappoint at least as far as compelling matchups. Two head-to-head Dozen matchups in the Big Ten feature #2 Ohio State traveling to face the team up north in #11 Michigan. Further west, #9 Wisconsin will travel to play #10 Minnesota, with the winner taking the division title and a date with the Buckeyes for Championship Week. Another big game to keep an eye on is #5 Alabama traveling to Auburn for the Iron Bowl. This will be the Tide’s last chance to impress the Playoff committee, and they will likely very much need to do so in order to have any shot at moving up to #4 despite sitting idle for Championship Week. And don’t think the committee won’t also be looking for a good showing from QB Mack Jones against a stout Auburn D. Finally, #7 Oklahoma can expect a tough test when they head to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State for Bedlam.
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College Football Analyst
Mike is a Baltimore native living in Portland, OR since 2007. He currently runs his own business specializing in video production and online marketing. Prior to that he was a legal technology consultant, worked for 9 years at Johns Hopkins University and served 6 years in the Air Force. He also enjoys travel, food, beer, and is a volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society.