College football week 13 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 13.
Related: 5 Things to watch in college football week 12
The Big 12 entered the season as a wide-open conference where several teams had a chance to win. That same opportunity has made it a slugfest to go through and that is even with preseason favorites Oklahoma State and Utah not living up to the hype. Through 13 weeks, it is apparent that the Big 12 will get just one team in the new 12-team CFP.
On Saturday, Arizona State defeated BYU, giving them their second loss of the season. That really limited the Big 12’s chances of getting multiple teams in the CFP, even if the chances were slim already. Colorado also lost to Kansas on Saturday, which means no Big 12 team ranked in the top 20 to start the week won their game. There are four teams with two losses in conference so week 14 will decide a lot for which team might make the CFP.
The SEC had plenty of teams poised to make the CFP. After week 14, the math of things changed based on the results of games. To start the day, Ole Miss lost on the road to Florida. The Rebels went from looking like they would be in the projected field to likely needing help to reach the CFP.
Later at night, Alabama lost to Oklahoma and didn’t look good in the process. They were ranked seventh by the CFP committee before the game, but now also will likely find themselves on the outside looking in, unless some serious aid comes their way. To top things off, Texas A&M lost to Auburn. While they still have a chance to make the SEC Championship Game if they beat Texas, the Aggies aren’t likely to get an at-large bid. The results of the day help other SEC teams and also squads for other conferences fill at-large spots.
While it was looking like it might not be the case over the last several weeks, the ACC could have multiple teams in the CFP. The SEC teams losing helps, but so too does these teams winning games. SMU moved to 10-1 with their win over Virginia. They will likely jump into the projected field as an at-large team this week.
Miami defeated Wake Forest this week as well. They will likely be the projected no. 3 seed in the 12-team CFP. Clemson still has just two losses with a big chance to prove themselves against a rising South Carolina team in the regular season finale. All teams are still able to make the ACC Championship. Getting all three in might be tough, but is still possible.
One of the more thrilling games of the Mountain West season was when Boise State defeated UNLV. Despite UNLV having just one loss, they were not a lock to make the MWC Championship Game. Colorado State entered week 13 without a loss in the conference. They lost to Fresno State in week 13, to open the door to a rematch of Boise State and UNLV.
Boise State has locked up their spot in the MWC Championship Game after sneaking past Wyoming. UNLV will play Nevada in week 14, while Colorado State will play Utah State. If both teams win, the Mountain West will let the computers and rankings pick the second team in the conference title game, which seems like it will be UNLV. The winner of that hypothetical championship game would likely get into the CFP as the fourth or fifth highest-ranked conference champion.
The big game of the weekend featured Indiana at Ohio State. While the Hoosiers were undefeated, they lost to the Buckeyes. For Ohio State, they now have two top-five wins (although Indiana will likely fall in the rankings) in three tries. They have cemented themselves as the best at-large team in the country.
While Oregon didn’t play this week, they are the only remaining power four unbeaten team in the country. Oregon is in the Big Ten Championship Game and could be waiting on Ohio State if the Buckeyes take care of Michigan. While that doesn’t mean that one of these teams will win the National Championship, up to this point in the season, the Big Ten has the two best teams in the country.
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