College Football Picks for Every Top-25 Game: Week 12 Best Bets & Score Predictions

🔮 Score prediction: Louisville 27, Clemson 23

Coming into the season, this looked like it could be a massive matchup for the ACC Championship race, and while it still is in theory, that's only because of Louisville. Could Clemson play spoiler? Maybe, but the Cardinals' defensive athleticism - primarily pass rusher Clev Lubin - should give Cade Klubnik and the Tigers hell. And while Clemson's defense is littered with NFL talent, it hasn't played up to its ability and will have its hands full with Chris Bell and Keyjuan Brown.

🔮 Score prediction: Oregon 37, Minnesota 10

Thanks to late-game heroics from Dante Moore, Oregon survived Iowa and is now three wins away from qualifying for the CFP, hence the Ducks' minus-money College Football Playoff odds. And while Dan Lanning's program hasn't been as impressive as many had expected, the talent in the trenches and explosiveness at the skill positions should be way too much for a Minnesota team that lost to Ohio State 42-3 and Iowa 41-3. 

🔮 Score prediction: Indiana 40, Wisconsin 9

A near upset last week at the hands of Penn State that would have ended Indiana's undefeated season turned into a Heisman moment for Fernando Mendoza. The Hoosiers' QB now needs to light up a struggling Wisconsin team to pad his stats and reclaim his spot atop the Heisman Trophy odds from Julian Sayin.

It seems more than likely he and the Hoosiers will have a flashy outing against the Badgers with how much talent Curt Cignetti's squad has on both sides. Even with the news that Luke Fickell will be back in Madison was followed up by an upset win over Washington last week, the Badgers look hopeless, especially on the road.

🔮 Score prediction: Texas AM 36, South Carolina 17

It was supposed to be South Carolina that rose in the SEC this season behind the play of a dynamic QB. Instead, LaNorris Sellers has been let down by the lack of talent on Shane Beamer's team. Meanwhile, Texas A&M is positioned to play for the SEC Championship and earn a CFP bye thanks to QB Marcel Reed emerging as a Heisman contender. He's not alone either, with Mike Elko's team littered with NFL talent from KC Concepcion and Mario Craver on offense to Cashius Howell and Will Lee III on defense.

🔮 Score prediction: Notre Dame 33, Pittsburgh 20

The College GameDay matchup this week is the biggest game in recent memory for Pitt, or at least it was supposed to be before head coach Pat Narduzzi made one of the strangest comments a head coach will ever make. When asked if this is a must-win game, Nardizzi said, "Absolutely not. It is not an ACC game." The normally old school prickly coach added, "I'd gladly get beat 103 or 110-10 in that game. They could put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that."

While Narduzzi isn't necessarily wrong, that can't possibly inspire the Panthers to beat a Notre Dame team that's in CFP position. The Fighting Irish should ride their dominant running back duo to a double-digit win at Acrisure Stadium.

🔮 Score prediction: Michigan 26, Northwestern 13

What a treat for Michigan fans. They get to head to one of the most historic venues in sports, Wrigley Field, and watch their Wolverines hand Northwestern a seventh straight loss at the Chicago Cubs' stadium. At least Northwestern gets to charge extra on these tickets for this one being at Wrigley, I guess? Because Northwestern's offense isn't going to be able to score enough to beat a Michigan team with a top 10 defense. And the Wolverines' run game, and freshman QB Bryce Undwerwood, should eventually break through against the Wildcats' defense.

🔮 Score prediction: South Florida 40, Navy 30

If the American Conference played its championship game today, this would be the matchup, according to our college football championship tracker. That's why this is one of the best games on the slate, even if you're not a massive Group of Six fan. This pits two of the most fun offenses in the country against each other: Alex Golesh's veer-and-shoot, led by Byrum Brown, and Drew Cronic's variation of the triple option, led by Blake Horvath.

Assuming Horvath plays after missing last week's loss to Notre Dame, this matchup features two of the best running QBs in the sport. The winner of this one will be in the driver's seat for an American Conference Championship bid, and therefore have a shot at the CFP.

🔮 Score prediction: Cincinnati 31, Arizona 27

This is a fun game that might get lost during a loaded noon slate, but it is certainly worth having eyes on. Neither of these programs was expected to be all that good this season, with both coaches, Brent Brennan (Arizona) and Scott Satterfield (Cincinnati), being hot-seat candidates, and both have far exceeded expectations.

The Wildcats are already bowl eligible due to an offense led by Noah Fifita and Ismail Mahdi, while Cincinnati is making a push to win double-digit games for the first time since making the CFP in 2021. The Bearcats sneakily have a ton of NFL talent, including QB Brendan Sorsby.

🔮 Score prediction: Alabama 24, Oklahoma 17

This will be Alabama's biggest test since taking down Georgia, and it could be the game that exposes the Crimson Tide as a bad college football national championship odds bet. The Tide have survived on the arm of potential No. 1 NFL draft pick Ty Simpson, but can Kalen DeBoer's star QB make up for Alabama's non-existent run game against one of the best defenses in the country?

Luckily for Alabama, even if it has a hard time scoring against Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables' defense, the Sooners' offense has been sporadic since John Mateer's thumb surgery. Maybe the bye week last week will make a difference for Mateer; however, I think this ends up being a tight defensive battle with Simpson's elite ball placement and field vision being the difference in the end.

🔮 Score prediction: Texas Tech 36, UCF 10

Scott Frost's second round at UCF has been abysmal thus far, with the Knights throwing away the Space Game last week against Houston when Frost abruptly made a QB change at the end of the game. It won't matter who's behind center against this ravenous Texas Tech front seven on Saturday.

With the way David Bailey and Romello Height hunt QBs, and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez playing at a legitimately Heisman-worthy level, UCF will be lucky to score in the double digits. Plus, Tech can just lean on its run game to take some pressure off the banged-up Behren Morton.

🔮 Score prediction: Miami 33, NC State 17

It's a damn shame Miami has already had its two dumb upset losses of the year (Louisville, SMU), and NC State has already had its field-storming upset win of the year (Georgia Tech). If this were in Raleigh, and the Wolfpack had a chance at a field storm, then maybe I could see another upset brewing. But this is at Hard Rock Stadium, and the Hurricanes are the highest-ranked ACC team in the latest CFP rankings.

That means, as long as Miami can win out, it could get into the CFP at 10-2, even if it doesn't qualify for the ACC Championship. And while I don't trust Carson Beck, I do trust Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor to make CJ Bailey's life miserable.

🔮 Score prediction: Georgia Tech 36, Boston College 16

Despite having its undefeated season spoiled by NC State, Georgia Tech is a good bet to make the CFP. All the Yellow Jackets have to do is beat Boston College and Pitt, with a "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate" loss to Georgia having no impact on Brent Key's team's ACC standings, though I doubt he will take the same approach as Narduzzi is against Notre Dame.

Coming off a bye after the loss to the Wolfpack, Key should have Georgia Tech ready to thump a Boston College program that seems likely to move on from Bill O'Brien. BC is 0-9 against FBS teams this season, and the Eagles don't have the defensive talent to slow Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets' run game.

🔮 Score prediction: USC 24, Iowa 23

USC used to love losing to Utah when the Pac-12 still existed as a power conference, and while the Trojans took a paycheck to leave for the Big Ten, Lincoln Riley can still be haunted by a team that wants to punch you in the mouth and run the ball down your throat.

This is Riley's first game coaching against Iowa, and this is maybe the most Iowa version of Iowa after it nearly upset Oregon in Eugene last week. Though I think in the end USC's offensive talent will make enough plays to win, namely Jayden Maiava and Makai Lemon, look for the Hawkeyes to muck this game up and cover.

🔮 Score prediction: Duke 29, Virginia 24

It's unclear whether Chandler Morris will play for Virginia or not after sustaining a concussion in the Cavaliers' upset loss to Wake Forest last week. Regardless, Duke is the more talented team in this game due to its offense, even if its defense is atrocious. With a budding star in QB Darian Mensah and breakout playmakers in Nate Sheppard and Cooper Barkate, the Blue Devils should win at home.

Both of these teams are massively flawed, and yet both are still alive in the ACC Conference Championship race, which is why there's a non-zero chance the ACC is left out of the playoff altogether.

🔮 Score prediction: Tennessee 40, New Mexico State 13

It's not a SoCon Saturday matchup in reality, but it is spiritually. Tennessee needs to beat up on a lowly G6 program to get its mojo back after losing to Alabama and Oklahoma in two of its last three games. The Volunteers' defensive woes can't be exploited by New Mexico State, and Josh Heupel can probably keep his game plan fairly vanilla as Tennessee prepares to play Florida and Vanderbilt to close out the season.

With the Vols' CFP hopes pretty well dead, the biggest question in Knoxville right now might be around which QB they could potentially add via the transfer portal to replace the departing Joey Aguilar.

🔮 Score prediction: Ole Miss 31, Florida 14

What if Florida upsets Ole Miss and kills the Rebels' College Football Playoff chances, which in turn allows Gators' athletic director Scott Stricklin to hire Lane Kiffin in early December with no CFP slowing the process down? I don't see it happening, but hey, this is the silliest sport in the world, so there's always a chance.

With DJ Lagway coming off one of his worst performances at Florida, the Gators just don't have any juice left and won't be able to score enough to win. This might be Kiffin's most offensively diverse team yet, and beating Florida should lock the Rebs into a CFP spot.

🔮 Score prediction: Utah 37, Baylor 17

Don't let Utah's likely blowout win against Baylor in Week 12 distract you from the bizarre situation happening at Baylor. Athletic director Mack Rhoades announced a leave of absence for personal reasons following an investigation into an alleged confrontation with star tight end Michael Trigg over the colour of his long-sleeved shirt under his uniform. The two extra wrinkles here are the fact that Rhoades was also the College Football Playoff selection committee chair, and he's now stepping down from this role, and Baylor still needs to decide if it wants to fire head coach Dave Aranda, who entered the season on the hot seat.

Anyway, Utah's dominant run game and violent defense should take care of business here.

🔮 Score prediction: Ohio State 43, UCLA 10

Remember when UCLA was a Cinderella team a few weeks ago? Well, the good times are over in Los Angeles, with nobody talking about Tim Skipper, Jerry Neuheisel, and Nico Iamaleava anymore. The Bruins have lost two straight and don't stand a chance in Columbus against a defense that has four potential first-round picks on it, chief among them being Arvell Reese. Plus, Sayin is the most efficient passer in the country and should continue to put up video game numbers with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate (if he plays).

🔮 Score prediction: Georgia 26, Texas 20

Nobody can possibly be sure if either of these teams is for real. On one hand, Texas has two top 10 wins in its last four games with Arch Manning finally looking like the real deal, on the other hand, Kentucky and Mississippi State have dragged the Longhorns to OT in recent weeks. As for Georgia, this is a far cry from the type of team we're used to under Kirby Smart, with teams like Auburn and Florida playing them close.

But Georgia's efficiency on offense, thanks to Gunner Stockton and a revived run game, can make the difference in the end. However, scoring will be tough on both sides, given Texas's offensive line issues and dominant defensive play.

🔮 Score prediction: BYU 30, TCU 20

Sonny Dykes' seat is blazing hot with how upset the fan base is with how this season has gone at TCU. Since taking the Horned Frogs to the national championship game in his first season, TCU is 20-14 and has lost a half dozen games it had no business losing - a classic talented underachiever.

BYU is the complete opposite, with Kalani Sitake's hard-nosed brand of football giving the Cougars an identity. Even with the road loss to a $25 million Texas Tech team last week, BYU's season has been one of the most impressive in the country. The Cougars' swarming defense and physical offense, led by Bear Bachmeier, should lead to a decisive win in Provo.