College football betting, Week 13: Michigan-Ohio State and five other top picks

College football rivalry week is bittersweet. The big one is Ohio State vs. Michigan, a battle of unbeatens. TCU, USC, and LSU need to win to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. TCU is favored by 10 points against Iowa State, Trojans are favored 5½ points vs Notre Dame and 10 against Texas A&M.

No. 3 Michigan plays No. 2 Ohio State in a game that could be decided by a single possession. Michigan is a hard team to blow out, but the Wolverines may have learned some lessons from the Orange Bowl last year. The pick is Ohio state 28, Michigan 23.

Rice plays North Texas at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. NorthTexas has the most rushing attempts in the country. Rice is among the worst teams in defending the run. North TXU is willing to throw from time to time.

Louisville has won five of its last six games. The Cardinals beat NC State last weekend without starting quarterback Malik Cunningham. Kentucky doesn't have the ability to separate from anyone on offense. Louisville has the better special teams play. Louisville is the pick. Michigan-Ohio State is a good bet.

No. 21 OREGON State takes on No. 9 Oregon in the Civil War. Oregon State is 8-3 with field goal losses to USC and Washington. The Ducks beat Utah last week despite quarterback Bo Nix being hobbled. Bo is not expected to be 100% for the game.

No. 15 Notre Dame plays No. 6 USC on ABC at 7:30 p.m. The game is a toss-up. USC has been overrated at the start of the season. Notre Notre Ireland has improved in the second half of this season, but is still inconsistent. Caleb Williams and USC have more consistency and explosive abilities than the conservative Irish offense.

Tennessee is playing at Vanderbilt on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Vols lost to South Carolina last week. Hendon Hooker is out for the season. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel often has feasted on less talented defenses.

Last week, last week's picks were 4-2 straight up and 2-4 against the spread.

This year's college football betting is 49-23 straight up, 34-37-1 ATS.