There are two ranked matchups set to play in the final week of the regular season.
Both of those ranked games will be previewed later. But there are conference championship game implications also on the line this week.
PODCAST: Despite chalk at the top, week 12 had intrigue
Spots in the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 title games are up for grabs this Saturday. Alabama-Georgia and Florida State-Louisville are already conference championship games set in stone for Dec. 2.
There are also 13 ranked teams that will play on the road this week including No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 5 Florida State and No. 8 Alabama.
Here are several games to watch this week.
No. 16 Oregon State at No. 6 Oregon
There is a lot on the line this week for the Ducks.
Sitting comfortably at No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Oregon is playing for a place in the Pac-12 Championship game.
The quarterback matchup Saturday will pit Oregon’s Bo Nix, who is coming off of a six-touchdown performance, against Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei.
No. 16 Oregon State upset Oregon 38-34 in the final week of the regular season last year. The Beavers scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as they ran for 268 yards.
The two teams will match up once against on Friday night, and there’s a shot for either team to possibly advance to the Pac-12 Championship game.
“I think it resonates with every single one of us and certainly not far from our mind,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said. “They’re a good team. We have to go play really well to compete against them, and you got to play an entire game.”
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Michigan
Is there mutual respect in a rivalry?
That was a pertinent topic this week in the press conferences that Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Ryan Day took part in during the days leading up to “The Game” on Saturday.
READ: Big Board: Week 13
Harbaugh was asked first on Monday about his level of respect for Day and the Buckeyes coaching staff, and here is his response.
“It’s all about our preparation for Ohio,” Harbaugh said. “The days, the minutes, the hours, everything leading up to this game, that’s where our focus is. Preparing ourselves and planning, going to practice and then execute, so I mean, anything else is irrelevant when you get into this kind of just kind of big game week.”
Both Michigan and Ohio State will enter Saturday 11-0 and with top-three defenses. Their scoring offenses are two of three teams in the Big Ten averaging more than 33 points per game.
Day answered a similar question about his level of respect for Michigan.
“I think with everything going on and the things that are out there, we’ve just kind of stayed away from all the distractions,” Day said. “We have, and (we’re) just focused on our team, and I think our guys have done a good job of it. I think when you talk to our guys, I’ve talked to them a couple times about what’s going on this season and then going into the game, but they’re focused on this game, they’re focused on the season, they’re focused on their preparation, and we’re just going to continue on that.”
No. 5 Florida State at Florida
The Seminoles might just have their backs against the wall.
Steady for most of the season, No. 5 Florida State earned a bittersweet 58-13 victory over North Alabama last week. While the Seminoles got the win, they lost quarterback Jordan Travis due to a horrific left leg injury.
Backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker entered the game after Travis’ departure and tossed two touchdowns alongside 217 passing yards.
READ: Quotables: Week 12
Florida State dropped a spot in the fourth CFP rankings of the season on Tuesday. Head coach Mike Norvell said he can sense an urgency to the Seminoles, something that’s helped them earn two ranked wins this season and maintain their place atop the ACC standings.
“You say urgency — you always want it.,” Norvell said. “It’s always like the push, the standard, the expectation. Sometimes I need to encourage more, and like they came in the door (Tuesday_ and they weren’t needing a whole lot of my encouragement. In the meeting room, they were ready to go. You felt it, you felt the energy, and we’re going to push the standard. We’re all going to be held accountable to it, but I thought the guys did a nice job with that.”
