The Week 12 schedule of college football games isn’t loaded with many winners, but we’re here to help pick some winners from the best games.
College football fans have definitely been spoiled the last two weeks that saw seven games on the schedule between ranked teams. Both of those weeks saw a total of nine ranked teams lose, including teams in the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings.
This week’s slate of games leaves a lot to be desired, so if you have a lot of errands to run or plenty of chores to do around the house or you just want to watch The Punisher on Netflix, this is the week to do it. While many of the top teams around the country are playing cupcakes to get healthy before rivalry week next week, there is at least one, and possibly two games that still have playoff implications.
But we’ve got an obligation to pick winners from the five best games of the week, so even though there aren’t five great games to choose from, nevertheless we persisted. As always, me and Jack Jorgensen, the two college football editors at FanSided are here to pick some winners for you.
College Football Picks
Minnesota vs. Northwestern
- Schmidt: Northwestern
- Jorgensen: Minnesota
Pat Fitzgerald vs. P.J. Fleck is a coaching showdown between two of my favorites, and two of the best products to come out of Illinois high schools in a long time. I wish I could pick them both, but my heart lies with the Wildcats. Go Cats! But Jack is going with the Gophers in a mild upset in Evanston.
Wake Forest vs. NC State
- Schmidt: NC State
- Jorgensen: NC State
It’s been a strong year for Wake Forest under head coach Dave Clawson and fans should be encouraged with the direction of the program, as long as they can keep him in Winston-Salem. But we both predict the Wolfpack of NC State getting the win.
Navy vs. Notre Dame
- Schmidt: Notre Dame
- Jorgensen: Notre Dame
One week after getting blown out by Miami and falling out of the playoff picture with their second loss of the year, we predict Notre Dame eats a W this week against Navy. The Midshipmen have played Notre Dame tougher in the last decade than the previous four or five, so this could be closer than many people think.
USC vs. UCLA
- Schmidt: USC
- Jorgensen: USC
UCLA really stinks and Jim Mora could be fired at the end of the season, so while we both predict the Trojans are going to walk away from this great rivalry game with the win, it will be a great matchup between two of the best quarterbacks in the country. Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen both figure to be in the running to be the first quarterback taken in the 2018 NFL Draft if they declare, so we’ll be watching to see which signal-caller has the better day.
Michigan vs. Michigan
- Schmidt: Wisconsin
- Jorgensen: Michigan
Here we go. The one game between ranked teams all weekend. College GameDay is in Madison for this Big Ten showdown that Wisconsin needs to win to boost their playoff resume. The Badgers need style points but Michigan has a tough defense to run up the score, so this could be an old-fashioned Big Ten clash with punishing run games and even tougher defenses going at it for four quarters. Having said all that, I like Wisconsin to remain unbeaten while Jack has the Fightin’ Harbaugh’s pulling off the upset and effectively ending the Big Ten’s hopes of making the playoff this year. Unless, of course, more chaos reigns supreme over the next couple of weeks. In that case, rival Ohio State would have the most to gain.
Overall Record: Schmidt 38-17, Jorgensen 30-25