Fubo News presents the five biggest rivalry week matchups in college football for 2023. Watch college football on Fubo.
The final week of the college football season is always bittersweet. On one hand, the bulk of the season is over. On the other hand, though, the regular season goes out with a bang with rivalry week, with many teams saving their biggest rivalry matchups for the regular season finale.
This year, a number of those rivalry games hold big-picture significance beyond the rivalry – for one reason or another. A number of teams competing for College Football Playoff spots, including those on the outside looking in, have tough matchups this week.
Putting aside the historical context of the rivalries, which rivalry games this week mean the most to the upcoming college football playoff? Let’s take a look, starting with a classic.
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Iron Bowl: No. 8 Alabama (10-1, 7-0 SEC) at Auburn (6-5, 3-4 SEC)
Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET on CBS
Despite a tough start to the season (by Nick Saban-era standards), Alabama remains squarely in the College Football Playoff picture. While next week’s SEC championship gqme against No. 1 Georgia will certainly hold more weight, the Tide can’t afford to get caught looking ahead with a trip to their in-state rival Auburn on the docket this week. It’s a problem the team has had in the past that it can’t afford to repeat.
The last five times the Iron Bowl has been held in Auburn, Alabama was the higher-ranked team and usually looking ahead to a postseason championship push. However, the Tigers beat the Tide in three of those five games, and took the most recent such game in 2021 to overtime before Alabama eventually won.
Granted, many of those Auburn teams were more competitive throughout the year than this 2023 squad. Alabama shouldn’t have trouble getting past Auburn this year but its chase of a championship will be over if it does.
No. 15 Oregon State (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12) at No. 6 Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Pac-12)
Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET on FOX
This game has had multiple names throughout its history (Oregon Classic, State Championship Game, Civil War) but right now just goes by Oregon against Oregon State. Saturday will be the 127th meeting between the two schools, making it one of the most-played rivalries in all of college football.
For the 2023 edition of this game, there’s a ton on the line for Oregon. The Ducks would clinch a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with a win, setting up a rematch with No. 4 Washington. Their outside College Football Playoff hopes also require a win.
Oregon State’s conference title hopes were dashed last week with a loss to Washington, but the Beavers are in a prime spot to play spoiler. While Oregon has traditionally dominated the series (the Ducks have a 67-49 head-to-head record with 10 ties), Oregon State has won two of the last three meetings, including last year’s 38-34 game that featured a 21-point comeback win by the Beavers.
Will the Ducks get their revenge at home and keep their playoff hopes alive? Or will the Beavers spoil things once again?
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Apple Cup: Washington State (5-6, 2-6 Pac-12) at No. 4 Washington (11-0, 8-0 Pac-12)
Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX
We jump one state north for the Apple Cup between the Cougars and Huskies. Washington has already locked up a spot in the Pac-12 championship but has its eyes set on a College Football Playoff spot. The Huskies likely need to stay undefeated to make that happen and certainly can’t afford a loss to a Washington State team that comes into the game under .500.
The Cougars may be fighting for bowl eligibility in the final week of the season but they do come in with some momentum. Last week, Patrick Chun’s team hosted Colorado and blew out the Buffaloes in a 56-14 game.
This is a series Washington has historically dominated, with 75 wins to Wazzou’s 33 (and six ties). The Huskies have won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 51-33 game last year that saw Washington QB Michael Penix, who will be making his final Heisman case in this game, throw for 485 yards and three touchdowns.
However, the Cougars’ lone win in that span was the most recent time the game was held in Seattle. Washington State won the 2021 meeting 40-13. The Cougars haven’t won back-to-back in Seattle since 2005 and 2007 but it would take a major upset for them to pull that feat off this year.
Sunshine Showdown: No. 5 Florida State (11-0, 8-0 ACC) at Florida (5-6, 3-5 SEC)
Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
The lone non-conference game on our list has the Seminoles heading to The Swamp to meet the Gators. Florida State will be playing its first game without quarterback Jordan Travis, who suffered a significant leg injury last week against North Alabama.
Is Florida State still a College Football Playoff contender without Travis? Saturday night’s game against rival Florida will be a good measuring stick before the ‘Noles take on Louisville next week in the ACC championship.
Meanwhile, Florida is trying to salvage what has been a down year for the program. What better way to do that than becoming bowl-eligible and knocking a big rival out of playoff contention?
Last year, Florida State snapped a three-year Florida winning streak in the rivalry. However, the Seminoles haven’t won in Gainesville since 2017. Does that change this year?
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The Game: No. 2 Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) at No. 3 Michigan (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET on FOX
Game of the Week? Certainly. Game of the Year? For the regular season, most likely. There’s so much on the line this year for one of college football’s most heated rivalries. A spot in the Big Ten championship game; an unbeaten regular season; an inside track on a College Football Playoff spot – all under the hanging cloud that is the ongoing Michigan sign-stealing scandal. This will be the 119th meeting between Ohio State and Michigan and it’s one of the biggest since the schools first started playing each other in football in 1897.
Ohio State had a program-record eight-game winning streak in the rivalry from 2012 to 2019, but Michigan has won the last two games in blowout fashion (the teams didn’t meet in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh received a lot of credit for those two wins but the Wolverines won’t have him on the sideline this week due to his Big Ten suspension related to the Connor Stalions scandal.
These are clearly two of the most talented teams in the country and the build-up to the game has been weeks in the making. Whoever wins, it should be a classic in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
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