What to watch: Week 13 college football viewer’s guide

How are there just two weeks remaining in the regular season?

Week 13 isn’t the most exciting of weeks. A lot of SEC teams are playing lesser non-conference opponents and top-10 teams like Indiana, Texas Tech and Ole Miss are all on their second bye of the season. There have been better weeks on paper.

But don’t rule out the possibility of a massive upset to shake up the playoff picture, either. Here are our games to watch for the penultimate week of the regular season.

No. 22 Missouri at No. 8 Oklahoma

The path for Oklahoma to make the College Football Playoff is now very simple. Beat two sets of Tigers — one from Columbia, Missouri, and the other from Baton Rouge, Louisiana — and you’re in the College Football Playoff. And those two home wins could even lead to a third home game. If Oklahoma stays in the top eight of the CFP rankings, it’ll host a first-round game.

It’s been an odd trajectory for the Sooners this season. Oklahoma was flying high and John Mateer was the Heisman favorite after a win over Auburn. But Mateer broke a bone in his hand that game and had a rough return against Texas. Since then, the Oklahoma offense has looked less than smooth.

The Sooners had just 212 yards on 51 plays in their upset of Alabama in Week 12. Oklahoma is averaging just 5.4 yards a play this season and has only topped that mark twice over six SEC games. The rushing attack has been inconsistent and Mateer hasn’t topped 160 passing yards in three of his five games since returning from injury. He’s also thrown just two touchdowns in that span, though he’s rushed for seven scores overall.

The key over the last two weeks? Turnovers forced. After forcing just one fumble and picking off three passes through the first eight games, OU forced three turnovers against Tennessee and another three against Alabama. It’s much easier to play football when your defense is putting you in advantageous field position — or even scoring touchdowns itself.

Missouri’s defense scored two touchdowns in its win over Mississippi State in Week 12 as the Tigers forced multiple turnovers for the first time against an FBS opponent all season. The Missouri defense has been very good so far in 2025; the Tigers allow 4.6 yards a play and fewer than 20 points per game.

The offense, however, hasn’t come up big when it needed to. And the Tigers’ chances of an upset may hinge on Beau Pribula’s health. Pribula has missed the last two games after suffering a significant ankle injury during the Tigers’ loss to Vanderbilt. He was officially listed as doubtful on Wednesday night’s injury report.

If Pribula can’t go, freshman Matt Zollers will start his third straight game. Zollers had a very rough game against Texas A&M and was just 8-of-16 for 112 yards with two touchdowns and an interception as star running back Ahmad Hardy carried the offense.

Louisville at SMU

The ACC is a bit of a mess at the moment. No. 13 Miami is the highest-ranked team from the conference in the CFP rankings but needs more than a handful of things to go its way over the final two weeks of the season to make the conference title game.

After losing at home in overtime to Cal in Week 11 and then at home to Clemson again in Week 12, Louisville is totally out of the conference race at 4-3 overall. The Cardinals are two games back in the loss column with one game to play from a group of four one-loss teams atop the conference. And that group includes SMU.

The Mustangs are 5-1 in the ACC and a half game back of both Georgia Tech and Virginia in the standings. The Mustangs need to get to 7-1 and hope from some tiebreaker luck over (primarily) Virginia and Georgia Tech to play for an ACC title for the second time.

Perhaps going on the road plays in the Cardinals’ favor. Louisville is, bizarrely, 1-3 at home in conference play and 3-0 on the road with wins over Pitt and Miami. SMU, meanwhile, is 3-0 at home and 1-2 on the road in conference play.

No. 15 USC at No. 7 Oregon

Can USC go on the road and beat a ranked team for the first time in nearly three seasons? The Trojans haven’t beaten a ranked opponent in a road game since Nov. 19, 2022, when then-No. 7 USC beat No. 16 UCLA. If you want to get picky and not consider that a road game, you need to go back to Sept. 20, 1999 — when Clay Helton was still the Trojans’ coach — to find the last time USC won a road game outside of Los Angeles against a ranked opponent.

The streak looked to be over earlier this year in September when the Trojans came back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead over Illinois with 1:55 to go. But the Illini then drove for a game-winning field goal with just three seconds left.

The USC offense has been one of the best in the country this season and doesn’t seem to have received the appropriate attention. USC averages an FBS-leading 7.4 yards per play as King Miller has rushed 99 times for 719 yards as Waymond Jordan (576 yards) has been sidelined since an injury against Michigan. QB Jayden Maiava has completed 67% of his passes for nearly 2,900 yards.

The second-best offense on a per-play basis? Oregon. The Ducks average fractionally fewer yards per play than the Trojans as three players have rushed for over 400 yards this season and each one of them is averaging at least seven yards a carry. Noah Whittington has 623 yards on just 76 carries. Jordon Davison has 12 touchdowns on just 66 carries and he’s rushed for 461 yards. Dierre Hill has rushed just 49 times for 424 yards and four scores.

Oregon has needed to rely on its run game in the absence of its top receivers. TE Kenyon Sadiq returned from injury in Week 12 against Minnesota and had eight catches for 96 yards. Dakorien Moore hasn’t played since the Ducks’ win over Wisconsin on Oct. 25. He could return on Saturday. USC transfer Gary Bryant Jr. missed the Minnesota game after he was injured against Iowa in Week 11. And Evan Stewart has missed the entire season.

Given how good each offense is, will both teams look to shorten the game as much as possible to limit their opponents’ possessions? And how aggressive will each team be on fourth downs?

Pitt at No. 16 Georgia Tech

For as crowded as the ACC is at the top of the conference, the recipe for a title game appearance is simple for Georgia Tech. Beat Pitt and it’s playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Pitt’s title-game scenario is not as simple. It involves three steps instead of one. If the Panthers beat Georgia Tech on Saturday and Miami in Week 14, and SMU loses to either Louisville or Cal, then the Panthers will play for the ACC title.

Both teams are looking to ring up a win over a good opponent, too. Georgia Tech has just one win over an FBS team with a winning record so far. That came in late September against Wake Forest. Pitt’s only win over a team with a winning record is a Week 2 victory over Central Michigan.

That lack of schedule strength — and the need for a late field goal to beat 1-10 Boston College in Week 12 — is a big reason why the Yellow Jackets were stuck at No. 16 in this week’s rankings.

QB Haynes King is on the path to earning Heisman votes after he’s thrown for over 2,200 yards and rushed for over 800 this season. King is responsible for 24 of Georgia Tech’s 40 offensive touchdowns so far this season as he’s averaging 5.5 yards a carry and 8.9 yards a pass. The offense was not the reason the game against Boston College was close; Georgia Tech had 628 yards on 76 plays and has averaged at least eight yards a play in each of its last three games.

Pitt needs to bounce back from the drubbing it got at the hands of Notre Dame. The Irish went up 21-3 before halftime as Pitt was overmatched and overwhelmed by the Notre Dame defense.

No. 11 BYU at Cincinnati

The Bearcats made this game less intriguing with a home loss to Arizona in Week 12. But there’s now a chaos scenario in play in the Big 12 if Cincinnati wins on Saturday night.

Entering Week 13, Texas Tech is atop the conference at 7-1 with BYU at 6-1. Utah, Houston, Arizona State and Cincinnati are all at 5-2. None of those four teams play each other in Weeks 13 and 14. If Cincy beats BYU, the Cougars win in Week 14 and Utah, Houston and ASU each win their remaining two games, there will be a five-way tie for second in the Big 12 at 7-2.

Of course, we could get even weirder and throw a Texas Tech loss to West Virginia in Week 14 for a six-way tie. But we don’t want to get greedy.

BYU bounced back from its loss to Texas Tech with a very convincing 44-13 win over TCU. Bear Bachmeier was 23-of-33 passing for 296 yards and a TD and also rushed for a score. Bachmeier struggled against Texas Tech after excelling on the road against Iowa State two weeks prior.

The Cougars have given up just 19 offensive touchdowns all season and Cincinnati has scored 43. The Bearcats average six yards a carry and RB Evan Pryor could return after missing the last two games with an ankle injury. Pryor leads the team with 7.2 yards a carry. That run game with Pryor and Tawee Walker (652 yards), has helped QB Brendan Sorsby throw for over 2,200 yards and also rush for a team-high nine touchdowns.

Sorsby does need to break a recent interception trend, however. After going seven straight games without a pick, Sorsby threw one in Cincinnati’s loss to Utah in Week 10 and then threw two against Arizona in Week 12. It’s no coincidence that Sorsby is just 39-of-86 passing for 444 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions in Cincinnati’s three losses this season. In the Bearcats’ seven wins, Sorsby has thrown for 20 TDs and no interceptions.

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Other games to watch

No. 13 Miami (-17.5) at Virginia Tech, Noon ET, ESPN: The first step of the Hurricanes’ complicated path to the ACC title game is to beat Virginia Tech on the road. If Miami plays anything like it has over the last two weeks, the Hurricanes should be just fine against the Hokies.

Arkansas at No. 17 Texas (-9), 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC: Arkansas has a habit of playing everyone close as it keeps losing. Will the trend continue over the last two weeks of a lost season or will the Razorbacks get a win over Texas or Missouri? Arkansas’ propensity for close games and Texas’ inability to look great for 60 minutes doesn’t feel like a comfortable combination for the Longhorns.

East Carolina (-2.5) at UTSA, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+: East Carolina is one of four teams with just one conference loss in the American. UTSA hasn’t lost a conference game at home since 2019. Even if the Roadrunners are 5-5, this is far from a gimme for the Pirates as they look to sneak into the College Football Playoff conversation.

No. 24 Tulane (-8.5) at Temple, 3:45 p.m. ET, ESPNU: The Owls are 5-5 and were in contention in the American before losing two straight games to start November. They’re still in line to play spoiler, too, as they visit North Texas in Week 14. Tulane is in good shape for the American title game with wins over both Temple and Charlotte.

No. 20 Tennessee (-4.5) at Florida, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC: The Gators are playing for nothing more than pride at this point at 3-7. But they’re still small underdogs at home against a Tennessee team that would love to win at least nine games for the fourth consecutive season.