Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and the rest of the “College GameDay” crew made their predictions for Week 13 games in both SEC and Top 25 action ahead of Saturday’s games.
Here’s who Saban picked while joining Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and celebrity guest picker Justin Fields on the GameDay set from Ohio Stadium in Columbus ahead of the top five showdown between the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes. (11 a.m. CT, Fox)
Nick Saban Week 13 SEC, Top 25 college football picks
Three games in Week 13’s slate feature teams that are both ranked in the Top 25, including Indiana-Ohio State. Saban picked Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Day’s Buckeyes to get a win over his former assistant Curt Cignetti, now Indiana’s coach.
Saban said:
“I love the job that Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana, but I’m telling you, Ohio State has too much talent. I think when they beat Penn State, they got the confidence they needed to win in these kind of games.”
In SEC play, Saban picked Lane Kiffin and the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels to beat the Florida Gators in Gainesville. Ole Miss hasn’t won in the The Swamp since its 31-30 upset victory in 2008, a game that inspired “The Promise,” a fiery and impassioned postgame speech from Gators quarterback Tim Tebow.
Saban took the No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies to beat the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and the LSU Tigers to bounce back against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Tiger Stadium. McAfee and Herbstreit took Diego Pavia and Vandy to pull off an upset.
RELATED: Nick Saban on Jordan-Hare Stadium: ‘That place is HAUNTED’
In other games involving Top 25 teams, Saban picked Marcus Freeman and the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish to beat Army at Yankee Stadium in New York. He also picked Deion Sanders and the No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes to beat the Kansas Jayhawks.
Saban took the No. 12 SMU Mustangs to remain unbeaten in ACC play against the Virginia Cavaliers, and the No. 22 Arizona State Sun Devils to beat the No. 15 BYU Cougars in a pivotal Big 12 matchup.
Alabama football vs. Oklahoma Sooners Week 13 predictions
The No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-2) are in Norman for the first time in 22 years to face the Oklahoma Sooners (5-5) Saturday night at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Interestingly, the GameDay crew did not offer picks on Alabama-Oklahoma during their predictions for Top 25 teams.
RELATED: Roll Tide Wires staff predictions for Week 13 matchup between Alabama and Oklahoma
Kickoff for Alabama vs. Oklahoma is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit calling the action from Norman.