NCAA Football Takeaways Week 13

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes lost the Big Game to the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday.

It’ll be interesting to see how the College Football Playoff Committee ranks these two teams.

In the less important AP Poll, Michigan climbed into the No. 2 spot, while Ohio State tumbled to No. 6.

On Tuesday, the latest College Football Rankings will be released, and it appears that the Buckeyes will be bumped out.

With a series of conference championship games coming up this Saturday, Ohio State could find a way to squeeze back in.

The Buckeyes are idle this week, so they’ll need the result of other contests to give them a nudge back into the playoff picture.

If the No. 7 Texas Longhorns were to lose the Big 12 Championship game to the No. 20 Oklahoma State Cowboys, and the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles were to lose the ACC Championship to the No. 10 Louisville Cardinals, then there would be two less teams viable to make the playoffs.

In almost every scenario with Oklahoma State and Louisville winning their respective conference championships, Ohio State has more than a 70% chance of making the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor.

Also, the Buckeyes would need the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs to defeat the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship, keeping the Crimson Tide out of the playoff conversation.

If Alabama were to win the SEC Conference over the No. 1 team in the country, it would be hard to imagine them missing out on the College Football Playoff.

For the Pac-12 Championship between the No. 6 Oregon Ducks and No. 4 Washington Huskies, it’s a win and you’re in scenario.

An undefeated season and Pac-12 Championship would certainly secure Washington’s place in the College Football Playoff.

Georgia, Michigan, Washington, and Florida State look like the four teams headed to the College Football Playoff right now, but there’s still a glimmer of hope for Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama.

Daniels vs. Nix

Although four men will go to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, it looks like it could already be down to the final two.

Jayden Daniels, quarterback of the LSU Tigers, and Bo Nix, quarterback of the Oregon Ducks, both made a strong final push for the Heisman in Week 13.

Daniels and the Tigers defeated the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, 42-30, and Daniels threw for 235 yards and four touchdowns and picked up another 120 yards on the ground.

With a four touchdown game, Daniels has reached 50 total touchdowns on the season, more than any other player in the NCAA.

Daniels threw for more than 300 yards in seven of his 12 games, twice going over 400 yards passing, and tallied over 75 yards rushing in seven games, three times going over 100 yards rushing.

On November 11th, Daniels may have had his most notable performance, throwing for 372 yards and three touchdowns and running for another 234 yards and two touchdowns in a 52-35 win over the Florida Gators.

Jayden Daniels Vs Florida:

🐯 372 Passing Yards
🐯 3 Passing TDs

🐯 234 Rushing Yards
🐯 2 Rushing TDs

Only QB in FBS HISTORY with 350+ passing yards and 200+ rushing yards in a single game.. 🤯 #Heisman🏆 pic.twitter.com/vlvNVXBxLR

— BayouCatCrew (@BayouCatCrew) November 12, 2023

The best odds for Daniels to take home the Heisman Trophy is currently +140 at FanDuel.

Nix is the favorite to win the Heisman, currently holding the best odds of -150 at BetMGM.

Although the Heisman is an individual award, the Oregon Ducks have only one loss and a slight chance of making the College Football Playoff.

Nix could receive a few more votes from Heisman voters based on his team’s success.

The statistical results are certainly there for Nix as well.

Nix threw for 367 yards and scored three total touchdowns in a win over the Oregon State Beavers on Friday, giving him 43 total touchdowns on the season.

In four games in the month of November, Nix averaged 392.2 passing yards per game and scored 19 total touchdowns.

Bo Nix throws 6 TDs and 381 yards … IN THE FIRST HALF! 😱🔥

pic.twitter.com/oxKyOL4F9E

— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) November 18, 2023

Nix threw for more than 300 yards in five of his 12 games, twice going over 400 yards passing, but only ran for a season-high 46 yards against Texas Tech on September 9th.

For bettors looking to make a selection on the two Heisman finalists, here’s a quick side-by-side after the 2023 regular season.

Quarterback	Comp%	Pass Yds	Pass TD	Rush Yds	Rush TD
Jayden Daniels (LSU)	72.2%	3,812	40	1,134	10
Bo Nix (Oregon)	78.6%	3,906	37	159	6

Daniels has some incredible passing and rushing numbers, collecting nearly 5,000 total yards and 50 touchdowns.

Nix has been the most dialed-in passer in the entire NCAA this season, and if he can keep his completion percentage above 77.4%, it will be a new single season NCAA record.

It should be an interesting Heisman ceremony.

James Madison Is Going Bowling

Since their transition from the FCS-level to the FBS in 2022, the James Madison Dukes have gone 19-4.

Despite their solid record in both seasons, the Dukes were deemed ineligible for a postseason bowl game based on FCS-to-FBS rules, with no team eligible for bowl games or conference championships in their first two seasons at the highest level.

The only exception that would allow James Madison into a bowl game is if not enough teams qualified to fill all of the open spots in the bowl season calendar.

Well, not enough teams qualified, so the Dukes will be bowling.

11-1 James Madison is BOWL ELIGIBLE.

The Dukes were denied exemptions twice by the NCAA as a 2nd-year program, but were granted a bowl game without enough other 6-win FBS teams this season. pic.twitter.com/BPSCmAtC7r

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 26, 2023

James Madison made an appeal to the Board of Directors to receive a postseason bowl a few weeks ago, but they were denied.

Now that not enough teams qualified by reaching the necessary six wins, the appeal made by the Dukes was somewhat of an insubstantial effort.

The lack of qualifying bowl teams not only benefited James Madison, but also the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

For anyone not familiar with Jacksonville State, they are in their first year at the FBS-level, and they are located in Jacksonville, Alabama, not Jacksonville, Florida.

With an 8-4 record, the Gamecocks will be going bowling, too!

The postseason bowl games have yet to be decided, but as of this writing, James Madison is projected to face the Liberty Flames in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on December 16th, and Jacksonville State is projected to take on the Ohio Bobcats in the Bahamas Bowl on December 18th.

It’ll be a less exciting Bahamas Bowl for the Gamecocks, with the game being played in Charlotte, North Carolina due to ongoing renovations to Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, but it’s still a bowl game for Jacksonville State.

Since the game is being played in North Carolina, “The Bahamas Bowl” will have a name change for 2023, being announced soon.

No matter what they call this game, it will probably be better than the “Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl” or “Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl”.