We're in the penultimate week of the College Football Playoff race, and we have four huge games between ranked opponents that could affect the final four teams — plus a few more.
No. 7 Washington State and No. 16 Washington State vie for Pac-12 North supremacy, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 12 West Virginia will help determine the Big 12 championship game, No. 14 Utah State and No. 21 Boise State look to win the Mountain West's Mountain Division and, of course, No. 4 Michigan and No. 10 Ohio State face off in "The Game" to determine the winner of the Big Ten East.
MORE: Week 13 picks against the spread
Sporting News has picks for all those games and more. Sporting News is 71-25 in our picks this year after going 7-1 in Week 12.
That said, here are our picks for this week's slate of games (all lines reflect Consensus picks from VegasInsiders.com as of Monday):
No. 13 Florida (-5) at Florida State
The 5-6 Seminoles need this game against rival Florida to extend the nations longest bowl streak to 37 years. Unfortunately for FSU, Florida comes into this game looking like the clear better team for this first time in several years. Feleipe Franks has played relatively well, throwing for 435 yards and four touchdowns. He should have similar success against a Seminoles defense that ranks 117th nationally in pass defense (270 passing yards allowed per game). Florida 31, Florida State 23
South Carolina at No. 2 Clemson (-25)
Clemson can match South Carolina's five-game win streak from 2009-13 with a win on Saturday. Clemson looks better each week, and that trend should continue against the rival Gamecocks. Trevor Lawrence should continue his development with an efficient showing while relying on Travis Etienne and Tavien Feaster to gash South Carolina's defense. Will Muschamp will make sure his team plays the Tigers tough, but the disparity in talent will be evident. Clemson 42, South Carolina 17
MORE: 10 biggest games of Rivalry Week
No. 3 Notre Dame (-10.5) at USC
The last team standing between Notre Dame and its first Playoff appearance is a floundering USC team that looks worse for wear after a tough loss at UCLA. The Trojans samed largely incapable of taking advantage of a beleagured Bruins team, and they'll find the Irish much stiffer competition. It's not a matter of whether Notre Dame wins, but by how much. Look for Ian Book and Dexter Williams to move the ball downfield while Jerry Tillery makes life miserable for USC quarterback JT Daniels. Notre Dme 38, USC 21
Auburn at No. 1 Alabama (-24.5)
Auburn comes into this game as the last team to beat the Tide — something the Tide surely will be aware of. It looks like Alabama got caught napping against The Citadel in Week 12, and that could very well be because Nick Saban and Co. focused their attention on this game. That said, look for Auburn to pull out all the stops in this all-important game, including a variety of blitz packages to harass Tua Tagovailoa, who could have his Heisman moment at the perfect moment. Alabama 45, Auburn 20
MORE: Week 13 Playoff picture
No. 14 Utah State at No. 21 Boise State (-3)
Utah State and Boise State face off for the Mountain West's Mountain division in a game that will not only have bearings on the MWC championship but also the Group of 5's representative in the New Year's Day Six. The quarterback duel between Utah State's Jordan Love (2,845 passing yards, 25 touchdowns to four interceptions) and Boise State's Brett Rypien (3,270 yards, 28 touchdowns to seven interceptions) will be worth watching against defenses that seem evenly matched. We'll go with the team with the more explosive offense: That favors the Aggies. Utah State 41, Boise State 38
No. 6 Oklahoma (pick) at No. 12 West Virginia
If you like offense, then this is the game for you. Both Oklahoma and West Virginia rank in the top 10 in scoring offense (Nos. 1 and 10, respectively) and total offense (Nos. 1 and 10, respectively). It could honestly come down to which team has the ball last that determines the winner of this game, though the Mountaineers do appear to have the better defense. That said, the Sooners haven't lost this game since West Virginia joined the Big 12 — we'll side with that streak for one more year. Oklahoma 52, West Virginia 48
MORE: Week 13 bowl projections
No. 16 Washington at No. 7 Washington State (-3)
Another game with conference championship implications. No team looks better in the Pac-12 than Washington State, but it's on the Cougars to upend the Huskies' five-year win streak in the Apple Cup. Gardner Minshew (4,325 passing yards, 36 touchdowns to seven interceptions) looks like a fringe Heisman contender, but he'll be going up against, statistically, the best defense he's faced all season. The next-closest team would be Utah, against which Washington State scored its second-lowest points total in a 28-24 win. We think Mike Leach has his team ready for showdown en route to the Pac-12 championship game. Washington State 31, Washington 28
No. 4 Michigan (-4) at Ohio State
"The Game" is finally here, and it's huge. The stakes have never been higher for Michigan and Ohio State, for reasons both on and off the field. The Wolverines come in looking far and away the more complete team, with a defense that could rivaly any in college football. Ohio State has managed escape after escape this season to arrive on this stage. It'd be easy to make this out to be a quarterback duel between Shea Patterson and Dwayne Haskins, but it will be important for both teams to achieve success on the ground to avoid becoming one-dimensional. Right now, that favors Michigan with Rashan Gary and Devin Bush, though Chase Winovich will be a big storyline as well. Michigan 28, Ohio State 24
