Week 13 college football viewers' guide: what to watch, when and where

Week 13 is a light week for many of college football's top teams. Never to fear-- there's still plenty of good games to watch, and here's your weekly rundown of what to watch, when, and where. Whether you're a hardcore coach potato seeking the ultimate weekend experience or a casual fan trying to decide a game to pick, here's your rundown.

Friday action

Two games on Friday and both have some interest. A battle of 5-5 ACC foes will leave somebody punching a bowl ticket as Florida State visits NC State at 8 p.m. Eastern (all other times here will be Eastern) on ESPN. The late game is a doozy, with 7-3 Hawaii going to 8-2 UNLV at 10:30 on FS1.

Early battles on Saturday

The marquee early game on Saturday is No. 22 Missouri at No. 8 Oklahoma. That's a noon kickoff on ABC. The Sooners are hanging on the edge of the College Football Playoff picture while Mizzou is probably out. Ahmad Hardy could give even the stout Oklahoma defense a good battle.

Many of the other early games will be one-sided. Rutgers won't give Ohio State much more trouble than FCS Samford will give Texas A&M. The other top game might be a battle of two unranked 7-3 ACC teams as Louisville plays SMU at noon on ESPN2.

A potential switchover game is 9-1 James Madison hosting Washington State at 1:00 on ESPN+. There's not a ton of meat on the bone in the between-pear hours games this week.

Mid-day must see

Saturday's biggest game is probably No. 15 USC at No. 7 Oregon on CBS at 3:30. This one has some real CFP relevance for the Big Ten, as Oregon is in and USC is out, but an upset could flip that script. At the same time, Texas is trying to hang onto its tenuous CFP hopes against Arkansas on ABC. No. 14 Vanderbilt faces a rising Kentucky team at home on ESPN at the same time.

Prime time matchups

An early flipover ahead of the evening rush might be Pitt at No. 16 Georgia Tech at 7:00 on ESPN. The primetime battles are fairly dozy, with a Tennessee team likely out of the CFP going to Florida at 7:30 on ABC, while an Illinois team similarly on the outside travels to Wisconsin on the Big Ten Network. Don't be shocked if the interesting game of the late slate is No. 11 BYU at CIncinnati at 8:00 on FOX.

Game of the Week

USC and Oregon has the prestige and has to be the single must-see game of the week. In the late windows, Georgia Tech or BYU are two teams worth watching and are likely to have more competitive games.

Sleeper Game of the Week

That early Louisville/SMU battle could be an epic one. The ACC is still very much up in the air, and a one-loss SMU team might yet play a major role in defining the conference's season.