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Jackson's bold predictions for Week 12 of the 2025 college football season, including picks for Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, and Indiana.
The college football regular season is heading toward its conclusion, and the College Football Playoff bracket is shaping up. However, if you have followed college football long enough, you know the unexpected is bound to happen when we think we have a clear picture of how things will play out.
The Week 12 college football slate isn't loaded with blockbuster matchups, but that's usually when wild outcomes take place. In this article, we'll try to predict some of the top college football headlines after all Week 12 games have wrapped up. This isn't a "scoring hot take" article. Instead, we'll make "reasonable" calls for outcomes that are at least "unlikely."
Read about the bold predictions for Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Indiana below. Let's get to it!
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Notre Dame Beats Pitt by 20+
Notre Dame is a polarizing program. A lot of people love the Fighting Irish, and a lot of people hate them. Because they are not in a conference, many believe they should not make the College Football Playoff with two losses, considering their strength of schedule and quality wins don't stack up with some of the teams ranked around them.
However, the 2025 Notre Dame team has started to feel eerily similar to last year's. After an embarrassing loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2, Marcus Freeman rallied the troops, and Notre Dame ripped off 13 consecutive wins, including 10 by at least a two-possession margin of victory. This year, the Irish started 0-2 and now found themselves winners of seven straight, all by at least two scores and six of seven by at least three scores.
Notre Dame knows it has no margin for error if it wants to play in the College Football Playoff again, and I expect another dominant outing on the road at Pitt this weekend. The defense looks much improved since its early season blunders, and CJ Carr and his weapons have opened up the passing game in a big way. The threat of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price in the backfield makes this offense one of the scariest in the country.
6️⃣6️⃣ YARDS TO THE HOUSE
MALACHI FIELDS' FIRST TOUCHDOWN IN A NOTRE DAME UNIFORM ☘️#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/1YCnKNhjRJ
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 20, 2025
The Panthers allow the fewest rushing yards per game (80.9) in the ACC, but it's difficult to imagine anyone completely shutting down the Notre Dame rushing tandem.
As long as offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock demonstrates balance in his play-calling, the big-play passing shots should be available. Carr leads the country in yards per attempt (10.1), while Pitt ranks 56th nationally in yards per attempt allowed (6.9).
Texas and Georgia Combine for 60+ Points
For a significant stretch of Kirby Smart's tenure, Georgia's defense has been a brick wall capable of shutting down college football's most elite offenses. And Texas looked disastrous on offense to begin the season, but its defense appeared to be one of the best in the country. Heading into this matchup between two SEC heavyweights, both squads have morphed into offensive-heavy teams.
In 2025, Georgia has surrendered at least 35 points twice. Before that, the Bulldogs only allowed 35 points in a game twice in the regular season over the last four years. Texas, which allowed just 31 points through its first four games, has now surrendered 69 points over the last two contests against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
Both defenses are vulnerable when the opposing quarterback and offense are on, and Arch Manning and Gunner Stockton are hitting their strides as first-year starters over halfway through the 2025 campaign.
The Vegas total here is set around 47.5, but this smells more like a Texas vs. Mississippi State or Ole Miss vs. Georgia shootout. Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has taken plenty of heat and criticism during his time in Athens, but he's doing a terrific job this year.
📊 SEC QBs vs Ranked Teams (ranked by QB Rating)
QB rating is a measure of a QB's efficiency.
Gunner Stockton is #1 in Comp%, #3 in YPA, #2 in TDs thrown, and tied for #1 in INT thrown.
So it's no surprise he's #1 in QB Rating. pic.twitter.com/46YINMuNt1
— The Bulldawg Report (@ReportBulldawg) November 9, 2025
On the flip side, the way to affect Manning is by getting pressure on him, but Georgia's defense is among the worst in the country at generating pressure. Yes, you read that right. Georgia ranks 125th out of 136 FBS teams in sacks per game (1.0).
Arkansas Secures First SEC Win at LSU
Arkansas has lost seven consecutive games since its last win on September 6, but has had its fair share of close and crushing defeats. The Razorbacks lost by one against Memphis, by three against Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Mississippi State, and by six against Ole Miss. The chances to have a much better season have been there, but they keep falling just short.
Although the matchup with LSU is on the road, this might be their best shot to win a conference game in 2025. It's not a night game in Tiger Stadium, and the fan base is less than enthusiastic about the way its season has gone. I don't expect home-field advantage to be much of a factor here. Arkansas has been mostly consistent on offense and has one of the best units in the SEC, led by Taylen Green.
Meanwhile, LSU has been a disaster offensively all season, and interim head coach Frank Wilson said both Garrett Nussmeier and backup Michael Van Buren Jr. will play on Saturday. When has a two-QB system ever been a good idea? Maybe occasionally, but it's rare.
The Tiger defense clearly has not quit on the season, as shown in its effort against Alabama last weekend. But I have a hard time believing it'll keep Arkansas below 24 points, which might be all it takes to win the game, even considering how bad Arkansas is defensively.
LSU has nothing to play for, and half of its roster could be eyeing the transfer portal. We know the Arkansas offense has not given up, though, and it's easily the unit I trust the most in this matchup in the Battle for the Boot.
North Carolina Picks Up Another Win At Wake Forest
Don't look now, but after a disastrous start against Power 4 competition, the Tar Heels have an outside shot at bowl eligibility. While it's true that beating Syracuse and Stanford won't win Bill Belichick any coaching awards, North Carolina has clearly improved dramatically, at least on defense, since its blowout loss to Clemson on October 4.
In the four games since, UNC has allowed just under 16 points per game, and its two losses during that stretch were by a combined three points. This isn't a great football team, but it's now a competent ACC squad that looks like it can compete with some of the middling conference teams if things break right.
Like North Carolina, Wake Forest is limited offensively, and its path to victory is an ugly, defensive contest. The spread sits at around Wake Forest -6.5, but these teams should be viewed as relatively evenly matched.
I'm banking on one of the greatest minds in football history to find a way to win it, setting up a chance to go bowling by upsetting one of North Carolina's fiercest rivals -- NC State or Duke.
Fernando Mendoza Sets Career High (364) in Passing Yards
Fernando Mendoza didn't have a great game by his standards last week in Happy Valley, but he delivered a Heisman-worthy moment in crunch time with a passing touchdown to fend off the Penn State upset bid. He's in the thick of the Heisman discussion alongside Ohio State's Julian Sayin and Alabama's Ty Simpson, but he's running out of chances to pad his resume.
A home date with Wisconsin could be a smash spot. The Badgers rank 13th in the Big Ten in passing yards per game allowed (219.6) and 91st nationally in passing yards allowed per attempt (7.6). Many teams have played with the lead over Wisconsin and haven't needed to air it out, but would anyone be surprised if Curt Cignetti runs up the score in hopes of helping Mendoza's Heisman campaign?
I slowed down my shot of the game winner and focused in on Fernando Mendoza's release.
How he was able to place the ball where it needed to be is beyond me. #iufb pic.twitter.com/g2mHKm6bE3
— Ian Plaskoff (@ian_plaskoff) November 10, 2025
Maybe this call is more of a narrative prediction, but if Indiana and Mendoza really want to light up Wisconsin through the air, there's likely no stopping them.
