The last week of the 2017 college football regular season is here. Who might fall during rivalry week?
After a long season, it has come down to the final week of the regular season. The 2017 season has been a fun one, there are sure to be some surprises left and an upset or two. There are many good games on the slate this weekend during rivalry week.
It was rough predicting upsets last week as it was the first time all year I failed to get one prediction correct. Not only were there no correct predictions, but none of the games were decided by closer than 10 points. Missed the target by a mile, but hoping to bounce back this week.
There are four ranked versus ranked games in Week 13 and several good games between long time rivals. Even if a team appears over-matched on paper to their ranked rival, the records and the stats go out the window during a rivalry game. The odds are provided by Sportsbook Review.
The second longest uninterrupted FBS rivalry happens Saturday night in Columbia, South Carolina as Clemson tries to keep their playoff hopes alive against South Carolina. The Tigers are 13-point favorites.
The Tigers currently have a three game winning streak against their rivals. The Gamecocks won five in a row before Clemson’s current streak. Throw the records out the window for this one and it is sure to be closer than last year’s blowout. South Carolina surprisingly played Georgia tough when the Bulldogs were ranked number one and they should give Clemson trouble too.
The keys for a Gamecock victory will be putting pressure on Tiger quarterback Kelly Bryant and stopping the Tiger rushing attack. Bryant is still good, but he is no Deshaun Waton.
Carolina has held six of its opponents this year to under 120 yards rushing and must do the same against Clemson. If they can dominate defensively and grind out the game on the offensive side of the ball, Carolina has a chance to pull a big upset.