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Week 13 Featured Games
THURSDAY
Rutgers at #18 UCF, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN
Spread: UCF -17.5
Announcers: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack
All-Time Series: Rutgers leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 12/19/2009 Rutgers 45, UCF 24
Reason to Watch: UCF has a seemingly easy path to winning Conference USA 2.0 and getting an automatic bid to a BCS bowl. Of course maybe it isn’t as easy it looks after just barely avoiding what would have been disastrous loss to Temple last week. Rutgers is 6-4 but they’ve been playing like a team that is 2-8. They are coming off a 52-17 annihilation at the hands of Cincinnati. They are already bowl eligible and the conference is unlikely to fill it’s six bowl bids so they are a lock for a bowl game even if they tank the rest of the season. What a great addition to the Big Ten they’re going to be!
Back Up Game: Rice at UAB, 7:30/4:30 PM, FOXS1
FRIDAY
Navy at San Jose State, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2
Spread: San Jose State -2
Announcers: Carter Blackman, Danny Kannell
All-Time Series: San Jose State leads 2-0
Last Meeting: 9/29/2012 San Jose State 12, Navy 0
Reason to Watch: Just a couple of weeks ago San Jose State appeared to be a lock to reach back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history. But now after a heartbreaking loss to San Diego State and a stunningly bad performance against Nevada they are now on the bowl bubble. With Fresno State up next this is a must win game. Even if they win this week they could get shutout of a bowl at 6-6 as it’s possible the Mountain West will have more the eligible teams than bowl slots and the Spartans aren’t an appealing draw for bowls. Navy has already accepted an invite to the Armed Forces Bowl.
EARLY SATURDAY
#20 Oklahoma at Kansas State, Noon/9:00 AM, FOXS1
Spread: Kansas State -4.5
Announcers: Craig Bolerjack, Joey Harrington
All-Time Series: Oklahoma leads 70-18-4
Last Meeting: 9/22/2012 Kansas State 24, Oklahoma 19
Reason to Watch: It’s probably not a good sign for a program of Oklahoma’s stature to be 8-2 yet only ranked #20 in the country and be a 4.5 point dog to a 6-4 Kansas State team. If they were to win this game and upset Oklahoma State in two weeks, a Cotton Bowl bid would be likely but they’ve just been utterly unimpressive this year despite their record. There just isn’t a lot of optimism that they can finish the year strong and they are more likely to finish it with back-to-back losses. After a rough start to the season Kansas State is on a four game winning streak. They haven’t beaten the Sooners in back-to-back seasons since 1996.
Back Up Game: #13 Michigan State at Northwestern, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN
MID-DAY SATURDAY
#12 Texas A&M at #22 LSU, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS
Spread: LSU -4.5
Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson
All-Time Series: LSU leads 28-19-3
Last Meeting: 10/20/2012 LSU 24, Texas A&M 19
Reason to Watch: Who would have thought coming into the season that this game would have zero impact on the SEC West race? While it’s not the biggest game of the day it might be the most must seen from an entertainment standpoint. Johnny Football is actually having a better season than last year but is getting little repeat Heisman talk due to the media’s anti-swag stance and that A&M has been a mild disappoint although that is all because of their terrible defense (opponents average 30.8 points per game). They still have a shot a BCS at large bid if they can win their final two games but that is a tall order with another tough road game against Missouri coming up. With three losses, LSU’s BCS bowl hopes are gone but win their last two and a trip to the Cotton Bowl is likely. They’ve lost four regular season games only once in the last 11 years (2008).
Back Up Game: #5 Oregon at Arizona, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN2
PRIMETIME SATURDAY
#4 Baylor at #10 Oklahoma State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC
Spread: Baylor -10
Announcers: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit
All-Time Series: Oklahoma State leads 18-13
Last Meeting: 12/1/2012 Baylor 41, Oklahoma State 34
Reason to Watch: It’s without hyperbole that this is the most important game Baylor’s program history. A win here and they will be in excellent position to finish the regular season undefeated (TCU and Texas remain). While RGIII did bring them some attention they have never come close to winning a national championship with 1951 being the only season they ever finished the season ranked in the AP Top 10. It is unfortunate for them that the four team playoff might come one year too late. Standing in their way is an Oklahoma State team that no one is sure what to make of. Their one loss looks to be the most bizarre result of the year, that coming to West Virginia back in late September. That’s the same West Virginia team who you last saw ending Kansas’ 27 game Big XII losing streak.
Back Up Game: #17 Arizona State at #14 UCLA, 7:00/4:00 PM, FOX
LATE NIGHT SATURDAY
Washington at Oregon State, 10:30/7:30 PM, ESPN2
Spread: No Line
Announcers: Mark Jones, Brock Huard
All-Time Series: Washington leads 51-31-2
Last Meeting: 10/27/2012 Washington 20, Oregon State 17
Reason to Watch: In terms of postseason hopes this is a bigger game for these two teams than one might think. They are both 6-4 but both their season’s have gone off the rails the past month and could be in danger of being squeezed out of a bowl bid if they finish the year 6-6. Pac-12 has seven bowl bids but they are likely to have nine eligible teams. That didn’t appear to as big of an issue until Stanford lost to USC last week and because of that it doesn’t appear likely that the conference will pick up a BCS at large bid. There is more pressure on Oregon State to get the win here with Oregon waiting in the wings next week while Washington has a more winnable rivalry opponent in Washington State. The Huskies though have the added issue of possibly being without quarterback Keith Price after injuring his shoulder in their loss against UCLA last week.
Back Up Game: Boise State at San Diego State, 10:30/7:30 PM, CBSSN
Week 13 Game Rankings
1. Baylor at Oklahoma State
2. Arizona State at UCLA
3. Texas A&M at LSU
4. Missouri at Mississippi
5. Oklahoma at Kansas State
6. Oregon at Arizona
7. Washington at Oregon State
8. Wisconsin at Minnesota
9. BYU at Notre Dame
10. Michigan at Iowa
11. Utah at Washington State
12. Pittsburgh at Syracuse
13. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
14. Boston College at Maryland
15. Nebraska at Penn State
16. Indiana at Ohio State
17. Michigan State at Northwestern
18. Mississippi State at Arkansas
19. Cincinnati at Houston
20. Duke at Wake Forest
21. USC at Colorado
22. Navy at San Jose State (Fri.)
23. Colorado State at Utah State
24. Boise State at San Diego State
25. Rutgers at UCF (Thur.)
26. Kentucky at Georgia
27. East Carolina at N.C. State
28. Virginia at Miami
29. Kansas at Iowa State
30. Memphis at Louisville
31. UTSA at North Texas
32. California at Stanford
33. Western Kentucky at Texas State
34. Illinois at Purdue
35. Louisiana-Monroe at South Alabama
36. SMU at South Florida
37. Hawaii at Wyoming
38. Rice at UAB (Thur.)
39. UNLV at Air Force (Thur.)
40. New Mexico at Fresno State
41. Tulsa at Louisiana Tech
42. Connecticut at Temple
43. Idaho at Florida State
44. UTEP at Tulane
45. Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan
46. Massachusetts at Central Michigan
47. Marshall at FIU
48. New Mexico State at Florida Atlantic
49. Georgia State at Arkansas State
50. Middle Tennessee at Southern Miss
Image Credit: Rod Aydelotte/AP
