College football Week 13 – CFP implications, bragging rights will be settled during Rivalry Week

Rivalry Week is here!

And while most of what makes this week great is the history, passion and petty in-fighting built over the past century, this year’s games also have plenty at stake on the field, too.

Whether it’s fighting for a New Year’s Six bowl, a spot in a conference championship game or a march toward the College Football Playoff (or derailing your rival’s dreams of those things), here are the biggest games of the weekend and what to expect in them.

No. 9 Ole Miss at Mississippi State (Thursday, 7:30 pm. ET, ESPN/ESPN App)

We’re probably not getting a player pretending to be a dog urinating in the end zone following a touchdown in the Egg Bowl this year like we did in 2019, but you should still watch the game on Thanksgiving (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App).

Ole Miss and Mississippi State come into this one as ranked opponents, which could make for one of the more exciting games between these two teams in recent memory.

The Rebels are coming off of a 31-17 win against Vanderbilt that probably left Ole Miss fans wanting more going into a rivalry game and concerned about giving up 454 total yards to an offense that averages 312.

On Monday, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was complimentary of Mississippi State coach Mike Leach’s offense that could challenge his defense (100th in FBS in yards per game) in a big way.

“I think there was a thought out there amongst a lot of people, including coaches, that the SEC had kind of figured it out last year and they had slowed them down there throughout parts of the year,” Kiffin said. “And then obviously that wasn’t the case, and now they’re right back to where they started a season ago like that LSU game and leading the country in passing offense. It really is amazing because you would not think you’d be able to be so simple in what you do and [have] it continue to work.”

The Mississippi State offense has worked well. It helped spark a 25-point comeback against Auburn on Nov. 13 and had Tennessee State…