Joel Klatt makes prediction for Colorado vs. Kansas, more Week 13 games

The penultimate week of the college football regular season has arrived and a number of intriguing games are on deck. And FOX analyst Joel Klatt has his usual slate of picks for the weekend.

There’s no shortage of conference title and College Football Playoff stakes at play in the games that Klatt broke down and picked. One game he left off might be most intriguing of all, Indiana at Ohio State, which Klatt didn’t pick as he’s covering it for FOX’s broadcast. But he did still break it down before getting into his picks.

“They are not foreign to playing these teams,” Klatt said of undefeated and Top 5 Indiana. “What they are foreign to is playing in a matchup in which they are also expected to play well, a Top 5 matchup. In fact, the last time they were in a Top 5 matchup it was 1968. The Rose Bowl in 1968 against USC. Meanwhile, Ohio State is playing their third Top 5 matchup of the season. They kind of live in these atmospheres. And to be candid, this is all Ohio State thinks about, is these type of games. They think Michigan, they about these types of games. And they refer to them as “matchup games.” When talent is equated, how do we play? So Ohio State’s entire program is built for matchup games.

“Meanwhile, Indiana is this upstart with all these JMU transfer that came with Curt Cignetti and now we’re going to figure out what they do in a matchup game for the first time. From that standpoint, this is incredibly fascinating in terms of the narrative surrounding these two programs, where they’ve been, where they’ve been in college football and then what we get on Saturday in the ‘Shoe.” 

See Klatt’s full set of picks below.

Colorado (-2.5) over Kansas

If this game was played a few weeks ago, Colorado might be a bigger favorite, but Kansas has surged of late and knocked off a pair of teams at the top of the Big 12 at the time. Klatt ultimately rolled with his alma mater to get the win, but he thinks it’ll be a fight for the Buffaloes nonetheless.

“I think it’s pretty accurate,” Klatt said of the 2.5-point spread, “and the reason is, is because Kansas has found their form in the last couple of weeks. They’ve beaten now Iowa State and BYU in the last two weeks.”

Arizona State (-3.5) over BYU

BYU’s star might be fading and Arizona State has emerged as a real contender out of the Big 12. Behind transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt and all-purpose running back Cam Skattebo, Klatt thinks the Sun Devils prevail at home and climb another rung up the College Football Playoff ladder.

“So all the magic that was happening for BYU has kind of left them,” Klatt said. “They’re not the TCU team from a few years ago, because that magic stayed with TCU throughout those close games. Now all of a sudden, BYU with a loss. They’ve thrived off takeaways defensively and Leavitt just doesn’t throw picks. He hasn’t thrown a pick in his last three games, I like Arizona State in this one.”

Notre Dame (-14.5) over Army

Notre Dame has played one service academy, Navy, and thoroughly dispatched them. While Army has proven to likely be even better than it’s arch rival, Klatt just thinks the talent of Notre Dame and the Irish’s familiarity with playing service academies will pay off.

“I think that they’re comfortable playing against an academy because they do it twice a year,” Klatt said. “So, normally when a team plays like Army or Navy or Air Force, one of these academies, it’s like ‘Man this is so difficult to prepare for.’ That’s one of the talking points going into those games. But Notre Dame does it so often that I don’t think it’s as big of a factor in this matchup as I would in other matchups.” 

Alabama (-13.5) over Oklahoma

For Klatt, this came down to the fact that Alabama’s defense has taken form into being a buttoned-up unit, playing to the level of the talent on the field. That, paired with an offense that can catch fire and burn hotter perhaps better than any in the country, makes the Crimson Tide as currently constructed not just a problem for Alabama, but the whole country.

“Their defense has been taking the ball away,” Klatt said. “They’ve got 16 takeaways over the last five games. That’s the most in the country. So ‘Bama is quietly playing a lot better on the defensive side which makes them a much larger threat in the grand scheme of college football and for the playoff and for the SEC championship and for a national championship. 

Florida (+10.5) over Ole Miss, Ole Miss wins

Florida has been resurgent in the second half of the season under Billy Napier. And while Klatt doesn’t see that good form tailing off for the Gators, he doesn’t think they have quite enough juice to topple the Rebels, either, especially with the Ole Miss pass rush bearing down on a freshman.

“Napier has done a nice job, you’re going to get [DJ] Lagway back,” Klatt said. “He’s recovered from that hamstring injury. They’re explosive. They don’t need a lot of snaps. Look at last week, by the way, against LSU? I looked at this and I was like, ‘Wait, is this right?’ LSU ran 92 plays and Florida ran 43, and it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. The Gators create huge explosive plays because of Lagway. Can they do that against Ole Miss? We’ll see. Because Ole Miss’ defensive line is tremendous. This defense is tremendous.”

Texas A&M (-2.5) over Auburn

Klatt’s most definitive prediction about this matchup is that it will be a slog. But he ultimately thinks the Aggies will survive it and cover the slim number, albeit while looking ahead to a rivalry being reborn against Texas.

“I think Texas A&M looks ahead in this game,” Klatt said. “I think this game is going to be gross. I don’t know why. I just have this sense. One, I don’t trust Auburn offensively. You’ve got Le’Veon Moss is now out for the season, running back for A&M. With that knee injury suffered against South Carolina. They’re going to have to lean on Marcel Reed and Reed has been up and down. Moments of great play, moments of really poor play.”

Minnesota (+11.5) over Penn State, Penn State wins

In a similar vein to his Florida-Ole Miss pick, Klatt thinks Penn State’s pass rush could be the deciding factor, even if the Gophers manage to hang around. And for Minnesota to do that, Klatt said, it’ll have to run the ball well and slow Penn State’s ground attack.

“To me it comes down to the pass rush for Penn State,” Klatt said. “If it’s dominant, if they can stop the run and force the game on to [Max] Brosmer’s arm, then they’re gonna have a great chance in this game. They’re going to probably win this game. Minnesota’s only hope is you’ve gotta the run football, you’ve gotta stop the run. You have to. Like if you can’t do that, it’s going to be a struggle. And the evidence is there. The data suggests that if you’re able to stop the run or at least contain the run against Penn State, then they’re going to struggle.”