We've reached the penultimate weekend of the college football season and the races for the College Football Playoff and conference titles have reached critical stages.
Berths in the semifinals and major bowls are on the line and can cause teams to raise their level of play or stumble close to the finish line. This leads to unexpected results — often in places where it is least anticipated.
That's why we're here to make sense of things. The USA TODAY Sports college football staff — Scooby Axson, Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken — weigh in with bold predictions for Week 13 of the college football season:
Without injured quarterback Jordan Travis, Florida State will need to rely on its playmakers more than ever. The Seminoles are no slouch on offense, and they are facing a porous Florida defense. Florida State might want to turn on the tape of Florida playing LSU and while they don’t have a Jayden Daniels on the team, the offense has enough talent on that side of the ball to expose the Gators and keep their national title hopes alive. Because there is talk of Florida State being left out of the playoff should chaos ensue, they need to pile on the style points and win impressively. That won’t happen, even though Florida will also play a backup quarterback, but they will do enough, and the defense will make enough plays to win the game. — Scooby Axson
The potential College Football Playoff chaos involving Florida State largely resolves itself this weekend with the Seminoles falling to rival Florida in The Swamp. Jordan Travis is a special football player whose absence can’t just be dismissed. Would Florida State even be undefeated without him? I kind of doubt it. Florida certainly has plenty of its own problems, but you have to imagine the Gators would relish ruining a rival’s season while becoming bowl eligible. — Jace Evans
Kentucky upsets Louisville to win a fifth in a row in the series and end the Cardinals' already slim playoff hopes. But don't look for this one to be another blowout after the Wildcats' last four wins came by an average of 30.5 points. Kentucky's offense is way below average, so the defense will have to rise to the challenge against a unit that ranks third in the ACC in yards gained per play. Look for Kentucky to deliver a close win that doubles as upsetting news for Florida State, which would love it if Louisville went into the conference title game with just one loss.has context menu. — Paul Myerberg
At first glance, it appears North Carolina and North Carolina State are going in different directions. The Tar Heels have flopped against Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson in the second half of the season. The Wolfpack have won four in a row despite some challenge at quarterback. So it should be another win for State, right? Look for quarterback Drake Maye to be the difference and lead North Carolina to a victory in the final regular season game of his career. — Erick Smith
Some of the most memorable finishes in Iron Bowl games of recent vintage have occurred in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Yes, of course there was the ‘Kick Six ‘ in 2013, then that 2019 48-45 track meet that wasn’t sealed until an illegal substitution penalty on the Crimson Tide gave the Tigers a clinching first down.
But unfortunately for Tigers’ fans, there will be nothing memorable about this year’s edition. There will be no questioning Auburn’s energy level, but one can’t reasonably expect this team that was exposed by New Mexico State last week to hang with Alabama for long. We’ll say Auburn does get into the end zone once, probably somewhat early in the proceedings, but not much will go the Tigers’ way the rest of the afternoon. — Eddie Timanus
Maybe it’s not too bold at this point but I’m going with Florida to beat Florida State and take care of one of the sticky issues currently in front of the College Football Playoff committee. After the awful Jordan Travis injury, I wasn’t too convinced by the Seminoles against North Alabama. Going into the Swamp is a totally different deal, and even though the Gators have had an underwhelming season it’s going to be a brutal environment for Tate Rodemaker to play quarterback given the stakes. I just think FSU is a different team without Travis and it’s not a great spot for them to go on the road. — Dan Wolken
