Big Stakes for Final Week of College Football Regular Season

We still have conference title games to come, and then there is the 41-game bowl season. But this week is the final regular season week of the college football regular season, and it is shaping up to be the best of 2023.

No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Michigan

It is “The Game” in “The Big House.” Such is the long tradition in college football, and this game in particular, when rivalry matchups don’t need flowery language or clever names. Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes went for two in 1968, up 50-14 on Michigan. Asked after the game why he did it, Hayes responded, “Because I couldn’t go for three.”

These teams, these fan bases, and these states do not like each other. And for the fifth time since 2000, they are both in the Top 5 for The Game.

This game will also decide which team will win the Big Ten East, which team will face Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, and which team can keep its spot in the College Football Playoff. And maybe, possibly both of them make it that far.

Michigan online sportsbooks are expecting brisk business over the long Thanksgiving weekend – the Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, Michigan State and Penn State play at Ford Field on Friday, and then it’s Ohio State-Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

Bovada.lv has the Wolverines at -3.5 to beat the Buckeyes for a third straight time. On Friday No. 12 Penn State is favored by 20 points.

No. 5 Florida State at Florida

The Florida State Seminoles are also one of the teams dreaming about a run in the College Football Playoff that ends with a national championship. But those hopes took a big hit on Saturday when they lost quarterback Jordan Travis to a left leg injury.

The details of the injury weren’t released, but he was carted off the field in an air cast, and he will not play this week against the Florida Gators. Instead the ‘Noles will have Tate Rodemaker Jr. at quarterback as they go for a second straight win against their rivals.

Despite going into the Sunshine Showdown shorthanded, BetUS.com has Florida State at -6.5 points. Florida State has already clinched a berth in the ACC Championship Game against Clemson.

No. 15 Oregon State at No. 6 Oregon

The Washington Huskies have cashed their ticket to the Pac-12 Championship Game, and the Oregon Ducks have it in their power to join them in Las Vegas on December 1. All they have to do is survive the Civil War against their hated rivals, the Oregon State Beavers.

The Beavers nearly upset the Huskies last week, and they won this game last year in Corvallis. The Beavers, however, haven’t won in Eugene since 2007, when they won, 38-31, in double overtime.

This game is on Friday, meaning that by the time Arizona and Arizona State kick off on Saturday, the Wildcats will know if they have a chance at the Pac-12 Championship Game. If Oregon loses on Friday, and No. 16 Arizona beats the rival Sun Devils the next day, they will go to Las Vegas to play Washington.

If the Territorial Cup Series (the name for Arizona vs. Arizona State) is for a shot at the Pac-12 Championship, Arizona brick-and-mortar sportsbooks will be the place to be on Saturday.

Big XII Championship Game Clinching Scenarios

It’s simplest for the No. 7 Texas Longhorns. If they beat Texas Tech on Friday, they will advance to the Big XII Championship Game in Arlington, Texas as the No. 1 seed.

If No. 21 Oklahoma State beats BYU, they are also in and will be the No. 2 seed.

But if Texas wins and OSU loses, No. 13 Oklahoma can be the No. 2 seed with a win over TCU. But if Oklahoma loses, No. 19 Kansas State gets in with a win over Iowa State, a matchup won by the Cyclones in two of the last three years.

And if Texas loses to Texas Tech, it will be anarchy, with the possibility of a four-way tie for the two championship spots. Even the Big XII isn’t addressing those possibilities until after the two Friday games have been played – TCU at Oklahoma and Texas Tech at Texas.

All of the games and all of the possible scenarios can be wagered at any of the best college football sportsbooks.