College Football Week 12 Predictions and Best Bets

Picks for a pair of pivotal games between Washington and Oregon State in the Pac-12 and Georgia and Tennessee in the SEC.

The back-to-back national champions took back the top spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Georgia is back to No. 1 ahead of Saturday’s trip to Knoxville to take on No. 18 Tennessee.

The Bulldogs clinched their third straight SEC title game appearance with last week’s win and now the Volunteers are trying to play spoiler against their division foe with the regular season winding down. Out West, No. 5 Washington is staying alive in the playoff race but the Huskies are up against another stout challenger on the road this week in No. 11 Oregon State.

As far as games that factor into the CFP race goes, Georgia-Tennessee and Washington-Oregon State are clearly the marquee matchups but No. 7 Texas and No. 6 Oregon are both worth keeping an eye on as they take on Iowa State and Arizona State, respectively.

No. 5 Washington vs. No. 11 Oregon State

Spread: Washington +2.5 (-110) | Oregon State -2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: WASH (+110) | ORST (-138)
Total: 63.5 – Over (-110) | Under (-110)
Game Info: Saturday, Nov. 18 | 7:30 p.m. ET | ABC
Location: Reser Stadium | Corvallis, OR

Huskies receiver Rome Odunze has helped make Washington one of the highest-scoring offenses in the country :: Steven Bisig/USA TODAY Sports

The Huskies opened as 2.5-point road favorites but since Sunday that line has moved steadily in the direction of the Beavers, who are now favored by 2.5 in Saturday’s showdown. Oregon State has won nine straight at home, including a 62–17 thrashing of Stanford last week, while Washington extended its winning streak to 17 after outlasting Utah, 35–28.

The Pac-12 championship participants are still undecided with two weeks to go in the regular season. The Huskies just need to win one of their final two games to clinch a trip to Las Vegas. The Beavers, however, have to win out to earn a spot in the conference title game, which would require taking down two consecutive top-10 teams: No. 5 Washington and No. 6 Oregon.

Close calls have become a staple for the Huskies (10–0, 7–0 Pac-12) in conference play. Of their Pac-12-best seven conference wins, four have been by one score and they’ve only covered the spread twice.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads the FBS in passing yards and has the second-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy behind Bo Nix and Washington is fifth in the nation in scoring average (41 points per game) but 48th in points allowed (23.5). That defense was an issue in close calls against Arizona and Stanford, two teams the Huskies were projected to beat by multiple scores.

Oregon State (8–2, 5–2 Pac-12) isn’t far behind on offense. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei leads a top-15 scoring offense (37.9 points per game) but the heart of that unit is the rushing attack. Damien Martinez is one of 17 players with over 1,000 yards on the ground this season and he just had a season-best 146-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Cardinal. The Beavers’ defense is tied for 31st in opponent scoring (20.5 points per game) and held its last two opponents under 20 points.

The over has hit in six of 10 games for both Washington and Oregon State this season, though the Huskies are more accustomed to totals being set in the 60s than the Beavers. (The over/under in the USC-Washington game a few weeks back was set at 76 and it hit easily.)

Washington has turned almost every conference game into a shootout this season — at least 63 points have been scored in five out of seven in Pac-12 play and that will be the case again Saturday in Corvallis. Oregon State has a sound defense, but it won’t be able to hold up for four quarters against the duo of Penix and Rome Odunze, which means Uigaleilei and Martinez will be forced to answer.

Best Bet: Over 62.5 (-110)

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No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 18 Tennessee

Spread: Georgia -10.5 (-105) | Tennessee +10.5 (-120)
Moneyline: UGA (-400) | TENN (+280)
Total: 58.5 – Over (-110) | Under (-110)
Game Info: Saturday, Nov. 18 | 3:30 p.m. ET | CBS
Location: Neyland Stadium | Knoxville, TNAll-American tight end 

All-American tight end Brock Bowers returned to the Bulldogs last week after an ankle injury :: Jake Crandall/USA TODAY NETWORK

The Volunteers had their best shot at the Bulldogs in several seasons last year in Athens. Tennessee had risen to the No. 1 team in the country, riding high from a win over Alabama a few weeks prior. Georgia stopped the Vols in their tracks, winning 27–13, its sixth straight triumph by two-plus scores over its SEC East rival. This time around, the Bulldogs are the No. 1 team in the nation, winners of 27 straight and already bound for their third straight SEC title game, regardless of Saturday’s outcome.

Tennessee (7–3, 3–3 SEC) is getting quite a bit of respect as the 10.5-point spread is the tightest of the season for Georgia. (That was also the case last week when the Bulldogs were favored by a then-season-low 11.5 against Ole Miss at home — they rolled, 52–17.) The Volunteers’ 36–7 loss last week to Missouri was their worst of the season. That was to the same Tigers team that pushed UGA the week prior before ultimately falling 30–21.

Jaylen Wright leads Tennessee’s rushing attack, which averages better than 200 yards on the ground per game. That unit was bottled up in last week’s loss, which forced quarterback Joe Milton to air the ball out more than usual and he finished with 267 passing yards, his second-most this season. The Bulldogs are a tough team to run on, though the Rebels did rack up 179 yards in a losing effort, significantly more than the 109 UGA typically allows.

Georgia (10–0, 7–0 SEC) put together one of its most complete performances of the year in last week’s big win. Tight end Brock Bowers returned to the lineup and caught a touchdown from Carson Beck, who’s top 10 nationally in passing yards (3,022). It was an incredibly balanced game from the Bulldogs, who had over 300 yards through the air and exactly 300 on the ground. It seems like Kirby Smart’s team is peaking at the right time as it’s covered in three of its last five after an 0–4–1 start against the spread.

It’s worth noting Tennessee is not only undefeated in Neyland Stadium this season, it has a 14-game home winning streak that dates back to 2021. However, the last team to beat the Vols in Knoxville was Georgia. The Bulldogs know they can’t afford to slip up before their SEC title game against Alabama in a crowded CFP field and they’ll take care of business on the road, just as they’ve done for the last few years.

Best Bet: Georgia -10.5 (-120)

College Football Betting Record: 17–7

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