The Big Ten title game could be decided in Week 13, and there are meaningful games up and down the college football schedule. Throughout Saturday’s slate, will give an updated look at the playoff seeding and matchups.
Update at 8 p.m. ET Saturday:
It’s always the “light” weekends when there are not a lot of compelling matchups where college football turns the chaos up a few notches, and Saturday was reflective of that. Utah improbably came back to beat Kansas State at Rice-Eccles Stadium to keep its College Football Playoff hopes on life support, Oregon moved a step closer to the postseason bracket by holding off USC in a wild game at Autzen Stadium, SMU remained alive in the ACC and the Group of 5 featured a half-dozen thrilling last-minute finishes.
Of particular interest to the selection committee before the prime-time games kicked off were the true Pac-12 championship game between the Ducks and Trojans and the final score of the Notre Dame game. The top 15 victory over USC should give Oregon an opportunity to jump over a Mississippi program in disarray this week and draw Dan Lanning’s team a more favorable seed against the eventual ACC champion.
Then there’s the case of the Oklahoma–Notre Dame debate when it comes to who could get the final home game in the first round. There’s no question that the committee has been impressed with the Irish as they’ve run off nine straight wins and the pasting of Syracuse on Saturday should only add to that love. While Oklahoma has the superior résumé by any measure, this edition of the committee has not put much stock in that so if we’re going off the eye test, then the Irish will flip spots with Brent Venables’s team hosting their No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup in the playoff after Week 13.
Finally, it’s still very early in Atlanta for Pittsburgh–Georgia Tech but given how one-sided that game has been so far, it’s time to swap out the Yellow Jackets for Virginia as the ACC representative.
Update at 7 a.m. ET Saturday:
Welcome to the penultimate weekend of the regular season, which is more or less the equivalent of moving day in a golf tournament given the positioning teams are trying to do for one final push into the College Football Playoff bracket.
With a light slate in the SEC during Week 13 and a lack of impact midweek results, this is a massive opportunity for several programs to potentially jockey for at-large consideration with big wins or, perhaps, to lock up a first-round game at home for a few others.
Here’s how the bracket looks going into what should be an eventful Saturday in the sport from coast to coast.
Live Week 13 College Football Playoff Bracket
1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Texas Tech
6. Oregon
7. Mississippi
8. Notre Dame
9. Oklahoma
10. Alabama
11. Virginia
12. Tulane
First Round
No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech
No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Oregon
No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Mississippi
No. 9 Oklahoma at No. 8 Notre Dame
Quarterfinals
Orange Bowl: No. 4 Georgia vs. winner of No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech
Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. winner of No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Oregon
Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Mississippi
Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 9 Oklahoma at No. 8 Notre Dame
