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Jackson's bold predictions for Week 14 of the 2025 college football season, including picks for Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Washington, Oregon.
It's Thanksgiving week, which means one of, if not the best, college football slates of the year is just ahead. It's Rivalry Week, baby! Conference realignment, NIL, and the busy transfer portal have shaken up college football over the last half-decade, but Rivalry Week remains must-see TV. We're treated to a ton of grudge matches in Week 14, and many of them have College Football Playoff and conference championship implications.
Trying to predict what will happen during the unpredictable Rivalry Week is probably a fool's errand, but let's give it a shot! We're back again for this week's version of College Football Bold Predictions. None of these are necessarily scoring hot takes, but they're all statistically unlikely to happen.
Read about the bold predictions for Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Washington, and Oregon.
Ole Miss Wins Egg Bowl By Three Scores
The Rebels are obviously the much better team and should be expected to win this matchup. However, Ole Miss is listed as just around a touchdown favorite at the time of this writing. The SEC spreads have been close all year, and the game is in Starkville, so that explains why Ole Miss isn't a heavier favorite. However, the Lane Kiffin distraction narrative is another factor here, which is causing some to call for a razor-close game, or even an upset.
Despite that, I think the Rebels dominate the Black Friday Egg Bowl matchup. Whether Kiffin is leaving or not is a hot topic right now, but ultimately, the team should be motivated ahead of a College Football Playoff berth.
The difference between a win and a loss is likely hosting a game in Round 1 or traveling to face a strong opponent on its home turf. Last season, road teams were 0-4 in the first round of the College Football Playoff and lost by an average of just under 20 points.
Mississippi State is much better than last season, but the Rebels still hold the talent edge and have only been beaten by Georgia this year -- by one score -- in Athens. Jeff Lebby's squad can put points on the board, but it's difficult to imagine its defense putting up a fight against Trinidad Chambliss, Kewan Lacy, Harrison Wallace III, and company.
Have a day @kewanlacy22‼️
31 Carries
224 Yards
3 Touchdowns pic.twitter.com/5IURlZXSeD— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) November 16, 2025
This is an 11 a.m. kickoff game (noon ET), so I'm not worried about the road environment for Ole Miss, either. The spread has gotten too tight based on narratives. I'm calling for Ole Miss to make a statement.
Texas Beats Texas A&M By At Least Seven Points
It was a tough beginning to his career for Arch Manning, but the redshirt sophomore looks like he has turned a corner. Sure, some of the defenses he has faced over his recent stretch of excellence haven't been world-beaters, but Manning is starting to be the prolific quarterback many expected entering 2025.
Over his last four games, Manning has thrown for 1,314 yards, 11 touchdowns, and just two interceptions while completing over 65% of his passes. He's added two more scores as a runner.
Arch Manning becomes the first SEC QB with a passing TD, rushing TD, and a receiving TD in THE SAME GAME since Dak Prescott in 2014 🤯
Texas blows out Arkansas 52-37 😤 pic.twitter.com/nPC9NB0MVI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 23, 2025
He has what it takes to keep Texas in this rivalry game against the No. 3 team in the country, and, most importantly, the Longhorns will enjoy home-field advantage. All three of Texas' losses have come in true road games in some of the fiercest environments in the sport (at Ohio State, at Florida, at Georgia).
The atmosphere in Austin should be elite for a Friday night game against an in-state rival. And whether you like it or not, Texas could be playing for a CFP spot depending on what happens elsewhere around the country.
The Aggies, on the other hand, have played against just one team currently ranked in the top 25. That was back in Week 2 against Notre Dame. I'm not saying Texas A&M isn't a good (or even great) football team, but these two squads are closer than the records show. This will arguably be A&M's toughest test so far.
To be fair, Vegas believes this will be a close one, as A&M enters as just a 2.5-point favorite. To call for Texas to win isn't all that bold, but we'll take the Longhorns to win by at least a touchdown. The Aggies have run out to an 11-0 start, but the undefeated season could end here!
Tennessee and Vanderbilt Combine for 73+ Points in Thriller
The stage is set for an all-timer in the Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt rivalry on Saturday. 23-year-old New Mexico native Diego Pavia, who began his collegiate career in 2020, will take on 24-year-old California native Joey Aguilar, who began his career in 2019.
The two are in cahoots in suing the NCAA and seeking to permanently separate junior college season from NCAA eligibility, but they're on opposite sides in this Volunteer State showdown.
Below is a breakdown of Aguilar and Pavia's stats (rank among qualified SEC QBs listed in parentheses):
| Player | Completion | Pass Yds | PassTDs | Yds/Attempt | Total TDs |
| Joey Aguilar | 67% (6th) | 3,145 (1st) | 23 (t-3rd) | 9.2 (2nd) | 26 (6th) |
| Diego Pavia | 71.8% (1st) | 2,924 (3rd) | 26 (1st) | 9.4 (1st) | 34 (1st) |
You likely already knew both have been prolific, but the stats help tell the story of the upcoming battle of senior citizen signal-callers. The offenses should be on fire on Saturday, and both offensive units are licking their chops thinking about the defensive matchups.
Both Tennessee and Vanderbilt rank among the bottom six SEC defenses in yards per game allowed, passing yards per game allowed, and points per game allowed. The only "strength" either defense has shown is run defense, which will further incentivize play-callers Josh Heupel and Tim Beck to air it out.
I expect at least 10 total touchdowns, and if Pavia can win a shootout in Neyland Stadium to potentially earn a CFP bid, how would he not win the Heisman Trophy?
Washington Knocks Off Oregon
Oregon appears to be a lock for the College Football Playoff, but a win over Washington would go a long way in the Ducks securing a home playoff game in the first round. The Ducks are still also mathematically alive in the race for the Big Ten title game. That said, the road matchup with Washington sets up to be their biggest test of the season, outside of the Indiana game.
The Huskies boasted a 22-game home winning streak before the No. 1 Buckeyes came to town back in Week 5. The final score was a lopsided 18-point loss, but Washington hung in there against the reigning national champions and trailed by just eight entering the fourth quarter.
Husky Stadium doesn't get the credit it deserves as one of the nation's top environments and toughest places to play, and Washington is 5-0 with a scoring margin of 237-88 in games not against Ohio State at Husky Stadium this season.
Meanwhile, the Ducks' No. 1 passing defense ranking was put to the test last week against USC at Autzen Stadium, and they can be passed on, as shown by Jayden Maiava's 306 yards through the air. Oregon's defense is good, but matchups against the likes of Iowa, Oregon State, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Northwestern inflated its passing defense stats.
Washington isn't quite USC on offense, but it's a top-5 Big Ten unit, and its defense is better. Behind the Husky Stadium crowd in what should be the best atmosphere of the season, give me Washington to force a few Dante Moore mistakes, with Demond Williams Jr. taking advantage.
Demond Williams Jr. turned on the jets. 💨 pic.twitter.com/jAppYfK694
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) November 23, 2025
Arkansas Finally Wins a Conference Game
If you've read this column a few times this year, you know we've called this one a few times. Third or fourth time's a charm, right?! Week after week, the Razorbacks tease their fan base into thinking a win is on the way, but they keep finding new methods to lose football games.
So far in 2025, Arkansas has nine losses, and six of them came by just one score. That includes road games against Ole Miss (lost by six), Tennessee (lost by three), and LSU (lost by one) -- and a home game against undefeated Texas A&M (lost by three).
It put up a fight against Texas in Austin last week, but it can't seem to close the deal. Will the rivalry matchup at home finally change things? We have a great offense and poor defense (Arkansas) in a matchup with a poor offense and great defense (Missouri), so it's tough to call what the flow of this matchup will be.
But Missouri has very little to play for, and rumors of head coach Eli Drinkwitz potentially eyeing another job could affect the team more than it does Ole Miss. If Taylen Green can stop turning the ball over in bunches (big if), this should be a tight game.
