College football Week 13 takeaways
PAC-12 divisions up for grabs
Oregon was the favorite in the North heading into the season, but the Ducks were upset by in-state rival Oregon State over the weekend, opening the race up for other teams. Washington (3-0) is currently in the division lead and is scheduled to play Oregon in the final week of the regular season. If Oregon gets by Cal this weekend, that game will be for the division championship. In the South, both USC and Colorado are 3-0 with the other teams quickly falling way behind. To further complicate things, these two teams were supposed to play each other over the weekend, but the game was cancelled. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Clemson is the only team that can slow down Notre Dame
North Carolina was probably the best remaining threat to end Notre Dame's undefeated season during the regular season. The Tar Heels fought hard, but ultimately fell short in the second half. The 9-0 Irish have a 1-9 Syracuse team and a slightly better Wake Forest team left on the schedule before a potential rematch with Clemson in the ACC Championship. Clemson just has to beat Virginia Tech and the matchup will be just about set.
Iowa State controls its own destiny, but things could get messy.
The Cyclones got a thrilling victory over Texas on Friday to stay in first place in the Big 12. The win gave them distance from the Longhorns but keeps the pressure on for another week. Oklahoma and Oklahoma Sate are right behind in the standings and have pretty easy schedules. Also, don't forget about West Virginia. The Mountaineers could cause some chaos if they knock off both Iowa State and Oklahoma in the next two weeks.
Big Ten championship may already be set
Wisconsin is ineligible because they haven't played enough games to qualify, so Northwestern has pretty much clinched the West thanks to a head-to-head win over Iowa. Northwestern's game against Minnesota has been cancelled for this weekend, meaning the Wildcats will finish at worst 5-2 during the regular season. If one of Ohio State's two remaining games gets cancelled, the Buckeyes will also be ineligible, likely giving Indiana the division crown. So, it looks like Wildcats vs. Hoosiers in Indianapolis.
LSU's shine has worn off
Las season was a magical one for the Tigers, but they've come back to Earth quickly. The team lost way too many players from last year's team on both sides of the ball, and now some of the returning players are opting out part way through the season. They've lost or played close games against some bad teams don't stack up against the SEC's best teams. Joe Burrow was spectacular last season, but without him, the Tigers are right back in the quarterback purgatory they had been in before: serviceable players, but no one great.
Cancellations impacting conference title races
I mentioned above that the USC-Colorado game that had been scheduled for this past Saturday likely would have decided the PAC-12 South. With no makeup game happening, they'll have to go to the next tiebreaker if both teams win out. I also mentioned that the Big Ten seems to be on track to disqualify its top two teams. No offense to a very good Indiana team, but I'm sure Ohio State playing in the game would bring more appeal. Oklahoma is locked in a tight Big 12 race and had to reschedule its game against West Virginia. As you can see, with some conference schedules allowing rescheduling and others not allowing it, some teams are being eliminated due to reasons other than their play on the field.