10 Best Football Games Week 13!

The second best week in football comes this week for college football fans, as it is Championship Week, with more than half of the conferences will decide champions this week. But, I'm sorry for all of the MAC and C-USA lovers out there, I will not be previewing those two championship games this week.  My friend Jason is however, please go to thefroshfifteen.blogspot.com to check out his predictions regarding those games.  I will be concentrating on games which will factor into which teams get into the BCS and the National title game.
Then, in the NFL, there are only five weeks left to determine who will get into the playoffs and we are getting close to the final turn to separate the 20 team field of contenders into the 12 who will eventually make the playoffs.  Now, to get on to the games!

College


No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 19 South Carolina

Cam Newton is eligible to play in this game.  Therefore, Auburn will probably win, and they should win, considering they won last time at home against South Carolina.  But, my personal feeling is that Cam Newton should not be eligible, because he had to know his dad's scheme to get any school to pay for his son's services to play for that particular school.  The NCAA says that Cam didn't know of his dad's scheme, and that would make him ineligible.  But, my feeling is that the NCAA wants Newton to play, and therefore have Auburn win and then TCU will not be in the national title game. South Carolina would roll if Newton was not playing, but the NCAA does not want an excluded team from playing for the national title, and they want ESPN, in their first year of getting the BCS to get the biggest ratings possible.


Pick: Auburn 37, South Carolina 31


No. 2 Oregon at Oregon State

The "civil war" game is a rivalry game, and could be very close had Oregon State's season not been derailed when James Rodgers went down with a season ending injury.  Oregon State has lost three of its past four, and needs this win to become bowl eligible.  But, Oregon will roll, as even a rivalry game at Oregon State cannot stop this locomotive going down the tracks and running over every opponent in its way.

Pick:  Oregon 55, Oregon State 20

No. 21 Florida State vs. No. 15 Virginia Tech

This game is setting up to be great, as Virginia Tech has reeled off 10 consecutive victories since their first two losses to Boise State and James Madison.  Tech has Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies always spectacular special teams to thank for that.  Then, Jimbo Fisher, in his first year coaching Florida State taking over for the legendary Bobby Bowden, has done a remarkable job all things considered.  The Seminoles have been hovering around the bottom of the top 25 all season, and they will get steamrolled by the dominant Hokies.

Pick:  Virginia Tech 38, Florida State 21

No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Nebraska

This is a fitting championship game for the final Big 12 championship game ever before they become the Big 10, but still keep the Big 12 moniker, confusing, but enough of my little rant.  Oklahoma vaulted into this game after beating their rival Oklahoma State in Stillwater last week.  Oklahoma very well could be a national title contender next year as well.  Then, Nebraska, which has also been a dominant team in the Big 12, will get a shot at the BCS before moving into the Big 10.  But, the status of Taylor Martinez is up in the air, and I don't think they can beat Oklahoma without him.


Pick:  Oklahoma 24, Nebraska 10


Connecticut at South Florida

UConn, believe it or not could be the Big East's representative in the BCS.  Randy Edsall has done a terriffic job at UConn, and made it a respectable football school as well as a fantastic basketball school.  Jordan Todman has put together a quietly great season, rushing for nearly 1500 yards and 14 touchdowns.  But, South Florida is out to play the spoiler and Skip Holtz is running the show much the same as Jim Leavitt did before he was fired last season for some off-field incidents.


Pick: Connecticut 23, South Florida 20

NFL


Houston at Philadelphia

This game starts a fairly pedestrian slate of games for the weekend, except for the last two I'm picking.  But, as far as this game is concerned, the Eagles need to bounce back after an awful loss at Chicago last weekend.  The score was not as close as the game really was.  But, the Eagles could still have won that game had they known how to score in the red zone, going 1-5 in red zone chances.  Houston also really needs this win to try and keep pace in the frantic AFC south, where all four teams are within one game of each other.  The Texans also caught a break, as Andre Johnson was not suspended for his fight with Cortland Finnegan last week.  I believe the Eagles will torch the Texans atrocious pass defense, giving up just short of 300 yards per game, and allow Brent Celek, DeSean Jackson, and Jeremy Maclin to have big games.

Pick:  Philadelphia 45, Houston 24

Jacksonville at Tennessee

As noted above, Tennessee is only one game back of Jacksonville in the standings, but in reality, they should be looking forward to next season.  Vince Young is out with a season ending thumb injury and they did not look good at all against the aforementioned Texans last week with Rusty Staub at quarterback, and will look better, but not much with the seemingly ageless Kerry Collins behind center this week.  The Jaguars defensive line will get plenty of pressure on the immobile Collins and create turnover opportunities for the secondary. Then, Maurice Jones-Drew will continue his pro bowl caliber season with a fantastic day.

Pick:  Jacksonville 31, Tennessee 17

Atlanta at Tampa Bay

Tampa is now two games out after Atlanta stayed unbeaten at home pulling another rabbit out of its hat for last week's victory.  Then, Tampa lost to Baltimore by only a touchdown.  Atlanta is a much different team on the road, than at home, as both of their losses have come on the road, and Tampa played the Falcons very tough in Atlanta the first time these two teams played.  Tampa is now at home, and they will win this game via a signature of Josh Freeman, a fourth quarter comeback.


Pick:  Tampa 24, Atlanta 20

Pittsburgh at Baltimore

Both teams did not look all that impressive last week, as Pittsburgh needed Steve Johnson to have a case of the drops to defeat Buffalo in overtime, and Baltimore just did not look all that good all around in their win over Tampa.  Both these teams have another thing in common though, they simply cannot stand each other.  This is a game for you if you love defense and hard hitting, which there will be plenty of with this game.  Both teams are also fighting for the division lead, and probably a first round bye in the playoffs.  Baltimore I think will win this game though, as Ben Roethlisberger cannot seem to stop pump faking worth his life and that will cost the Steelers with turnovers and field position.  Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense will love having the ball closer to the fifty then.

Pick:  Baltimore 20, Pittsburgh 14

New York Jets at New England

This is probably the premier game of the weekend, and ESPN is loving that they can hype the heck out of it.  This game will not only determine who is the AFC East leader at the end of the night, but put the winner in the driver's seat for the number one seed in the AFC.  New York beat the Patriots in New York in week two, and would love to do it in Foxboro this time.  But, Bill Belichick and the genius that he is will come up with a game plan to beat the Jets at home.


Pick:  Patriots 26, New York Jets 24


Check back next week for the greatest rivalry in all of college, the Army-Navy game and nine NFL games.  Have a great weekend!