The first night of conference title games ha come and gone, and now a loaded Saturday is finally here as Championship Week in college football has arrived. Some of these games will not only result in pride but also serve as the closing argument for teams aiming for the College Football Playoff. No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Alabama will square off in one of the most highly-anticipated SEC Championship Games of all time. Georgia is essentially a lock for the CFP, but Alabama needs a win to get in and gain confidence going into the postseason.
No. 2 Michigan is in its first ever Big Ten Championship Game, and a win over No. 13 Iowa will punch Jim Harbaugh’s ticket to the CFP — something that has evaded him since taking over the program.
It’ll be a busy busy college football weekend. Here’s a viewer’s guide to help you navigate through the action.
All times eastern All games on Saturday unless otherwise noted
The big games
No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 9 Baylor (in Arlington, Texas) — noon on ABC: The Cowboys won Bedlam last week with a second half defensive performance from the ages, and are looking for another signature win and style points to show off to the CFP selection committee. Quarterback Spencer Sanders had a big day last week, but it will be more difficult here against the stout Bears defense.
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 3 Alabama (in Atlanta) — 4 p.m. on CBS: The Bulldog defense has been one of the best in a generation, and it’s final act until the postseason is a matchup against an Alabama team that has been inconsistent up front throughout the season. Meanwhile, Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young could lock up the Heisman Trophy on Saturday afternoon if he has a big game.
No. 21 Houston at No. 4 Cincinnati — 4 p.m. on ABC: The Bearcats are in a CFP position right now, but multiple other teams including Oklahoma State and Notre Dame are nipping at their heels. Houston has won 11 straight games and quarterback Clayton Tune has settled in nicely. It’ll be a big day at Nippert Stadium in what is the biggest Group of Five game of the CFP era.
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 13 Iowa (in Indianapolis) — 8 p.m. on Fox: The Wolverines rushing attack led by Hassan Haskins torched and embarrassed Ohio State last weekend, but the challenge is much different this week against a Hawkeyes team that is driving by defense. These are uncharted waters for Jim Harbaugh’s crew, so it’ll be interesting to see if there is a hangover from the win over the Buckeyes. If there is, it could drastically change the CFP picture.
Other big games
No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 17 Utah (in Las Vegas) — Friday, 8 p.m. on ABC: Utah knocked Oregon out of the CFP race on Nov. 20, so revenge will be on the mind of coach Mario Cristobal and the Ducks on Friday night in Sin City. Both of these teams strive to dominate up front, and that is what this one should come down to on Friday night
No. 15 Pittsburgh vs. No. 16 Wake Forest (in Charlotte) — 8 p.m. on ABC: Get your popcorn ready, because the quarterback matchup between Panthers’ star Kenny Pickett and Demon Deacons’ signal-caller Sam Hartman will result in points-a-plenty. What’s more, it could be a Heisman Trophy finalist elimination game for the quarterbacks.
The Cowboys head to New Orleans to face the Saints in a NFC battle on ‘Thursday Night Football’ this week.
The Cowboys (7-4) are coming off two straight losses to AFC West teams, the Raiders and the Chiefs. The Saints (5-6) are coming off four straight losses, including a blowout 31-6 loss to the Bills on Thanksgiving.
After getting a whole week off, the Cowboys are dealing with some COVID-19 issues. Coach Mike McCarthy tested positive on Monday. Wide receiver Amari Cooper tested positive back on Nov. 19, but since he is unvaccinated, he’s had to miss the last two games. He’s expected to play on Thursday night.
The Saints have been dealing with quarterback issues for the last month since their starting QB Jameis Winston suffered a season ending torn ACL. Trevor Siemian started the last four games, so he has yet to win a game for the Saints. Taysom Hill, who started some for the Saints last season, is expected to start on Thursday. He suffered a concussion in Week 5, and has been dealing with a foot injury since.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch the Cowboys vs. Saints game on ‘Thursday Night Football,’ including kickoff time, TV channels and a full ‘Thursday Night Football’ 2021 schedule.
Both Fox and NFL Network will broadcast the “Thursday Night Football” game between the Cowboys and the Saints. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will broadcast from the booth, while Erin Andrews and Kristina Pink will report from the sidelines.
Additionally, fans can stream the game on Amazon Prime with the same broadcast that’s shown on Fox and NFL Network.
The Cowboys vs. Saints game will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. All “Thursday Night Football” games in 2021 are scheduled to begin at 8:20 p.m. ET.
NFL live stream for ‘Thursday Night Football’
If you don’t have access to cable, there are multiple options for streamers to watch “Thursday Night Football” games. Here’s a list below if you don’t have cable.
Thanksgiving has come and gone, and all that remain are the leftovers in the fridge and 12 more games in the Week 12 NFL slate.
Three games were already played on Thanksgiving, but that was just the start of this week in NFL action, and there are several games with heavy playoff implications. The Buccaneers will hope to slow down Jonathan Taylor and the surging Colts, who have won five of their past six games, while the AFC South-leading Titans will do battle with the AFC East-leading Patriots, who have won five straight.
There’s also a matchup of two AFC North contenders with the Bengals hosting the Steelers in a rematch of a Week 3 matchup between the two teams. In the later afternoon slot, several of the NFC’s best will be on display with a high-profile matchup pitting the Rams against the Packers, as both teams are looking for a rebound after losing in their last games. The two teams that most recently claimed wins against Los Angeles and Green Bay, the 49ers and Vikings, will also be playing as both look to improve on their 5-5 records.
And the remaining two primetime games bring plenty of excitement, with the Browns taking on the Ravens in another AFC North clash on Sunday, and the Washington Football Team facing the Seahawks on Monday.
Sporting News has you covered for everything you need to watch Week 12 of the season.
It’s Thanksgiving week, which meant there were two added games on the primetime schedule, with the Bears-Lions, Raiders-Cowboys and Bills-Saints all playing on Thursday. With the weekend now here, the schedule returns to normalcy, with the Browns and Ravens playing on “Sunday Night Football,” followed by the Seahawks and WFT playing on “Monday Night Football.”
The rest of the slate will be aired either on CBS or FOX. Check your local listings to see which games will be on your broadcast.
Canadian viewers can find the games on TSN, CTV and CTV2.
Whether you got off to a great start in Thursday’s games or you’re looking to make up ground, you’re going to have a lot of questions about your lineups this week, I know. Adam Aizer and Heath Cummings updated you on the latest news and answered some start/sit questions on this morning’s FFT podcast, and Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath are on CBS Sports HQ until kickoff of the 1 p.m. games to answer your questions and keep you updated on all of the news you need to know on the FFT live show.
Make sure you check both out, but if you want more direct answers to your questions and other news updates, I have two more ways for you to win: Go to Twitter and use the hashtag “#AskFFT”, where our whole team will be answering questions all morning; and go to the FFT YouTube channel to chat with Adam and I from 11:30 until kickoff. We’ll be there right up until kickoff answering as many questions as we can, so make sure you’re in the chat early to get your questions in.
Here’s the rest of our preview content to get you ready, and check out my updated position rankings at the bottom of the newsletter to help with any early lineup dilemmas you may have:
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Sep 12, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans wide receiver Julio Jones (2) and Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Nissan Stadium.
Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
McNichols is actually the biggest injury here, because it seemingly frees up Dontrell Hilliard to play a big role again. Hillard surprisingly emerged as the most-used running back for the Titans in Week 11, catching eight passes and finishing with 82 yards from scrimmage. The Titans have a tough matchup against the Patriots on the way this week, but given the Titans’ injuries at both running back and wide receiver, it’s going to be hard to go away from Hilliard coming off that kind of usage. He’s in the RB2 discussion for PPR leagues.
The other interesting situation here is the Jets, with Carter placed on IR earlier this week. Johnson and Tevin Coleman figure to split work for the Jets in the backfield in a great matchup against the Texans, but can you actually trust either? Johnson played 20 snaps in Week 12 and had one carry and one target; Coleman rushed for a whopping 16 yards on five carries with one target of his own. Coleman probably needs a touchdown to have much Fantasy value, so you’re hoping Johnson splits carries with him and gets a decent passing game role. He’s more of an RB3, while Coleman is truly just a desperation play — it wouldn’t shock me to see La’Mical Perine out produce him.
The Seahawks RB absences are also worth noting. Alex Collins figures to be the leading rusher against Washington, but DeeJay Dallas did match him in snaps last week, so he’s an interesting beat-the-waiver-wire add this morning just in case he pushes Collins this week.
These two are looking like game-time decisions, which isn’t a bad thing for those of you with Patterson, who plays at 1. If Patterson is active, you’re playing him — he’s been one of the best players in Fantasy this season and has an excellent matchup against the Jaguars on the way. If he doesn’t play, my preference would be to avoid the Atlanta backfield, but that may not be possible, so I would prefer Mike Davis to Wayne Gallman, especially in PPR. He wouldn’t be a top-24 RB, however.
The problem with Jones is he doesn’t play until 4:25 p.m., so if you have to make a decision early, he’s putting you in a tough spot. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Sunday morning there is “optimism” around Jones, who is pushing to play and will go through pre-game warmups to prove he’s ready. The problem is, the Packers tend to be pretty conservative with injuries, and with a Week 13 bye coming up, they may opt to give him two full weeks to get back to full strength. I can’t see into the future, so I can’t tell you whether to sit an early player for Jones; if you have a viable replacement in the late slate of games, it’s worth the risk, but otherwise, I would probably pass. AJ Dillon figures to see a solid role no matter what and is a decent starter even if Jones plays, so I would probably just keep him active.
I’m willing to start Barkley and Hunt as top-20 running backs this week and Mitchell is right in that range as well, so you’re probably starting all three of those guys. And I’m probably passing on the Patriots duo, since both are expected to play and it’s not like we have any reason one way or the other to consider one or the other more likely to be limited — injury details don’t tend to leak out for the Patriots. Expect another timeshare there, one that makes them both fringe Fantasy options until something changes to give one of them a real advantage. You’re hoping for a touchdown either way.
Wide receivers
Out: A.J. Brown (chest; IR), Corey Davis (groin), Antonio Brown (ankle), Sterling Shepard (quadriceps), Kadarius Toney (quad), Auden Tate (thigh), Anthony Schwartz (concussion), Ben Skowronek (back)
Legitimately questionable: Allen Lazard (shoulder), Donovan Peoples-Jones (groin), Curtis Samuel (groin), Nico Collins (hip), Adam Humphries (hip)
Expected to play: Marquise Brown (thigh)
The Titans already have Julio Jones and Marcus Johnson on IR, so they are incredibly short-handed for this one. Dez Fitzpatrick, Chester Rogers, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine led the team in WR snaps last week, and Westbrook is the only one you could even consider starting coming off a 100-yard game, but you’d probably have to be pretty desperate to do so — he turned eight targets into 29 yards in Week 4 against the Jets the last time Brown was out. He’s not a top-40 WR for me.
I’m starting Marquise Brown in his return against the Browns, and it really doesn’t take much thought. He’d been a bit disappointing prior to the injury, with fewer than 40 yards in two of his previous four games, however he also had 44 targets in those four games, so there’s no way I’m not starting him. He’s a top-15 WR, while Rashod Bateman is in the WR3 discussion as he’s had at least six targets in each of the first five games of his career.
Tight ends
The hope is that Thomas will be activated from IR prior to Monday’s game, but given the late kickoff there, you can’t take the risk that he won’t play unless you want to add Gerald Everett as a fill in just in case. I like Thomas’ chances of returning to be a viable starting Fantasy option, however, so if he’s available in your league, I would go out and add him unless I’ve got one of the handful of no-doubt-about-it, must-start tight ends.
Rivalry Week has arrived and with it some of the biggest college football games of the season will be going down Saturday. Bragging rights will not be the only thing on the line as division titles, conference championship game appearances and College Football Playoff invitations will all be up for grabs with 18 top 25 teams in action over the course of the day.
Ohio State and Michigan go head-to-head in The Game with the Big Ten East on the line. The Buckeyes and Wolverines each have a shot at a top spot in the College Football Playoff, but the victory in Saturday’s game must win out through the Big Ten title game. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State meet in Bedlam, each as one-loss Big 12 teams that would need a bit of help to get into the playoff. There’s also a chance the Sooners and Cowboys meet in a league title game rematch should the Sooners win.
Elsewhere, Georgia (at Georgia Tech) and Alabama (at Auburn) each have rivalry games to get through ahead of their matchup in the SEC title game.
While winning is all that matters for the standings, we care about whether these teams will cover their spreads. Be sure to stick with CBS Sports throughout the day for college football coverage from the opening kickoff onward. Let’s take a look at our expert picks for a loaded Saturday in Week 13.
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook | All times Eastern
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 5 Michigan
Noon| Fox, fuboTV (Try for free) — It’s so hard to go against the Buckeyes in this game. Even though I think this is the most complete Michigan team that Jim Harbaugh has fielded, after seeing the way the Buckeyes have flipped the switch the last two weeks, I don’t think the Wolverines are good enough to keep it within the number. They have an excellent defense and pass rush, but they’ve yet to face an offense even close to what Ohio State offers. If the Wolverines fall behind, they’ll have to abandon their strengths in an effort to keep up. So I’m laying the points with the Buckeyes while hoping the game is much closer. Prediction: Ohio State (-8) — Tom Fornelli
No. 3 Alabama at Auburn
3:30 p.m. | CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App — I’ll take the points since a nearly three-touchdown spread screams “backdoor cover”. It’s impossible to trust the Crimson Tide offensive line, so I expect Auburn to force multiple empty possessions, which will allow T.J. Finley to keep his team in the game for at least three quarters. Finley will ultimately make a mistake or two that swings the game in the favor of the crimson and white … but not by three scores. Prediction: Auburn (+19.5) — Barrett Sallee
Penn State at No. 12 Michigan State
3:30 p.m. | ABC, fuboTV (Try for free) — There has to be some shell shock coming out of that stunning result at Ohio State last week, and while returning home should bring a more friendly environment for Michigan State, I think Penn State comes in with a little bit more juice. Taking the under is my favorite play because this should be a low-scoring game, but ultimately I’ll side with the Nittany Lions. Prediction: Penn State (-1.5) — Chip Patterson
No. 15 Texas A&M at LSU
7 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — Both of these teams have been disappointing relative to expectations, but LSU has played poor football against quality competition. The only ranked win of the season came against Florida, which proceeded to collapse. Texas A&M can limit LSU’s running game and make them one-dimensional enough to come away victorious. Prediction: Texas A&M (-6.5) — Shehan Jeyarajah
No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Oklahoma State
7:30 p.m. | ABC, fuboTV (Try for free) — Oklahoma was a trendy pick to win the national championship entering the season — including by this author. Unfortunately, there’s only so much waiting we can muster before we acknowledge that the proverbial Mr. Godot is not coming. Oklahoma State has been consistently better and more dominant all season long, and its playing its best football with a chance to reach its first Big 12 Championship Game. The Cowboys won’t waste this moment. Prediction: Oklahoma State (-4) — Shehan Jeyarajah
Which college football picks can you make with confidence in Week 13, and which top College Football Playoff contender gets a huge scare? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread — all from a proven computer model that has returned almost $3,700 in profit over the past five-plus seasons — and find out.
Thanksgiving day might have been full of NFL days, but there is still more football action prior to the weekend.
On Friday, there will be 16 FBS games to kick off rivalry weekend, along with a few ranked matchups.
No. 21 San Diego State kicks off the slate at noon with a tough matchup against Boise State. No. 16 Iowa will play its final Big Ten game of the season when it travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on the Cornhuskers in a battle for the Heroes Trophy.
Plenty of eyes will be on No. 4 Cincinnati as it looks to strengthen its College Football Playoff candidacy in its final test before the American Athletic Conference championship game in a matchup against Eastern Carolina. The Utes will also play their final regular-season game, hosting Colorado, before the Pac-12 championship on Dec. 3.
The night slot will feature a pair of rivalry clashes with UNC traveling to Raleigh to play No. 20 NC State, while the latest chapter of the Apple Cup will take place in Seattle with Washington hosting Washington State.
Sporting News breaks down how to watch those games and more in Week 13. Here’s everything you need to know.
MORE: College football picks, predictions against the spread for every Week 13 top 25 game
How to watch, live stream college football games
There will be a full slate of games on national television running from noon through 8 p.m. ET on Friday. The games will appear on CBS, Fox, FS1, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN+ and ABC. Live streaming options include the ESPN app, Fox.com, ESPN+, Paramount+ and fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial.
