College Football Pick 'Em Pool Picks (Week 13) - Targets, Avoids, Predictions for ESPN Pick 'Em Contests

Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for Week 13 of the 2023 NCAA college football season. Which upsets have the best chance of happening?

We only have two weeks of ESPN College Pick Em left for the 2023 season. CreightonWillWin continues his late-season push with a 53-point week. That was five points better than dherman8. Three more entries hit 45 or better and a full dozen hit 40. This was one of the better weeks as a group in quite some time.

50Centi extended his lead this week. A strong week by dherman8 moves him into second with 467 points, four points off the lead. JPH420 is just one point behind dherman8, so it's close at the top. Kahn is seven points back of third. ertlt rounds out the top five with 457 points. 29 points now separate first from 10th place. That's not an insurmountable lead, but it's tough to climb that hill with just two weeks left.

It's rivalry week, so Pick Em usually gets really crazy this week. The point wager on Michigan-Ohio State could decide a lot of things. The public is 90% or more backing one team in half of this week's matchups. That's not including Louisville's 88% backing against Kentucky. If you're not in first and don't mind dropping further in the standings, this is a great place to try and steal points.

College Football Pick Em Overview

This article will be for the confidence game mode. You can also read my against-the-spread picks here every week for every game so you know how I'm leaning toward that version of the game. Each week, I will recap who's dominating the group before I get into the picks. If you're going to beat everyone, all of the readers will know about it!

Let's get to the countdown! I will count them up from least confident (1) to most (10). You know, for dramatic effect. If I do change my pick or points sometime during the week, I will try to update the article or post it on Twitter. Otherwise, you know all of my picks each week. Good luck out there. I'm against a lot of the public this week. Wish me luck!

(1) South Carolina over Clemson

The Gamecocks are on another November surge to try and make a bowl. They had to close with a flurry to make it last season as well. The Gamecocks are missing so many key players that it's amazing they made it through the season with five wins. Some of them are starting to come back. Don't mind me...I'm just trying to steal a point here since I'm behind.

(2) Northwestern over Illinois

Northwestern has lost the last two games in this series by a combined 88-17 score. The Wildcats are already bowl bound, and they have a chance to keep the Illini out of a bowl here. David Braun should be coach of the year for what he has done at Northwestern this year. I see them closing the regular season with a bang here. They have clearly been the better team for much of the season.

(3) UNLV over San Jose State

The Rebels finally shut down Air Force in the second half last week. They need to bring that kind of intensity to stopping the run again or they will lose this game. I'm a believer in UNLV on both sides of the ball though. This is for a 10-win season. That's a big deal for the Rebels! I think they get it before bowl season.

(4) Minnesota over Wisconsin

The Gophers going to a bowl game with this bad of a team would be an abomination, but with the game in Minneapolis, it might happen. Tanner Mordecai can barely throw because of injury, and with Wisconsin already in a bowl, they might not risk him. Minnesota is +110 to win outright. With 78% of the public on the Badgers, I'm trying to steal some points.

(5) Virginia over Virginia Tech

I want Tech to win this because I would love to see Kyron Drones in a bowl game. I just don't think it's going to happen. This game is in Charlottesville. The emotions have been high there all season, and now you can add the plight of Perris Jones to it. Anthony Colandrea has grown up a lot in the last month. He is not making the mistakes that he made earlier this season. It helps that he has receivers like Malik Washington and Malachi Fields out there. The emergence of Clemson transfer Kobe Pace couldn't have come at a better time for Virginia. This is their bowl game, and the prize is knocking their rival out of a bowl.

(6) Ohio State over Michigan

I was heavy on the Buckeyes before Michigan's game against Maryland last week. Michigan hasn't faced a receiver like Marvin Harrison Jr. since...Marvin Harrison Jr. last year. And we all know that he has grown significantly as a player since then. I expect a close game, but let's see how Michigan does when they don't know what's coming.

See what I mean when I say that the playoff will ruin the regular season? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Sure...The Game will still be important, but it will never be 2023 important. And dammit, we deserve that as fans! We deserve to see a handful of games like this every season with so much riding on it.

(7) New Mexico State over Jacksonville State

I like the Gamecocks. They helped kick off the opening day of the 2023 season, and the exuberance of their fans and players was great to see. I hope they get to go to a bowl game. The Aggies won't be helping them to make their case. New Mexico State has turned their season around. This is a team that won a bowl game last year.

The coach got the ink to prove it too. Why? Because he promised his players that he would. This is not the same team that lost the opener to UMass. Nowhere near it.

(8) North Carolina State over North Carolina

I see about 78% of ESPN College Pick Em players haven't watched the Pack in a month or so. Brennan Armstrong is back, and although he doesn't look like he did at Virginia, he has this team playing well. It's not just that. It's the defense. The Wolfpack have only allowed 57 points in the last month in wins over Virginia Tech, Wake, Miami, and Clemson. You know, the team that just beat North Carolina by two scores last week.  The public is overweight again on a team that doesn't deserve it, so I'm planning on poaching another eight points.

(9) Louisville over Kentucky

I am nervous about this game and may end up moving it down. The last time Kentucky played a ranked Louisville team, the game was also in Louisville. Lamar Jackson led the Cardinals to #11 in the nation. Kentucky had lost to South Carolina the week before. Then they beat Louisville. Kentucky is staring down another Music City Bowl berth and the natives are getting restless. This is all too familiar for Mark Stoops. The same thing happened before the Cats beat #11 Louisville in 2016.

To my eyes, Kentucky looked worse against South Carolina than they did in 2016 and unlike the 2016 Cardinals, Louisville has been tested a few times this year. It feels like Louisville won't blow this one. They are staring down an ACC title and New Year's Six bowl since Florida State lost Jordan Travis.

(10) Kansas over Cincinnati

Cole Ballard or Jason Bean. It really doesn't matter. Both of them have looked good leading the Kansas offense. The Jayhawks are going to have to throw more against the Cincinnati defense, but I'm confident enough that either quarterback and those receivers can handle it. This is a game that Devin Neal can take over. Kansas State has a vaunted run defense and Neal still had a strong game.

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