College Football Picks Week 12: Odds, Predictions, Schedule, Rankings for Top 25

As we learned last week in college football, you can't take any games for granted.

After more than a week of debating which teams were most deserving of the four spots in the playoffs, upsets shook up the entire rankings. Clemson, Michigan and Washington all went down in Week 11, creating plenty of question marks going forward.

This week features some excellent battles on paper, but as we have learned, any of the games could end up being close and potentially feature upsets. Well, except Alabama against Chattanooga.

Here are predictions for each notable game this week with a breakdown of some of the best battles to watch.

Rank	Team	Opponent	ATS Pick
1	Alabama	vs. Chattanooga	N/A
2	Ohio State	at Michigan State	OSU -21.5
3	Louisville	at Houston	N/A
4	Michigan	vs. Indiana	MICH -26
5	Clemson	at Wake Forest	WF +21.5
6	Wisconsin	at Purdue	WISC -27.5
7	Washington	vs. Arizona State	WAS -25
8	Oklahoma	at No. 10 West Virginia	OKLA -3
9	Penn State	at Rutgers	PSU -27
10	West Virginia	vs. No. 8 Oklahoma	OKLA -3
11	Utah	vs. Oregon	UTAH -12
12	Colorado	vs. No. 20 Washington State	WSU +4
13	Oklahoma State	at TCU	TCU -4
14	Western Michigan	vs. Buffalo	WMU -34
15	USC	at UCLA	N/A
16	LSU	vs. No. 21 Florida	FLA +14
17	Florida State	at Syracuse	CUSE +20
18	Auburn	vs. Alabama A&M	N/A
19	Nebraska	vs. Maryland	NEB -14.5
20	Washington State	at No. 12 Colorado	WSU +4
21	Florida	at No. 16 LSU	FLA +14
22	Boise State	vs. UNLV	UNLV +27
23	Texas A&M	vs. UTSA	TAMU -26.5
24	San Diego State	at Wyoming	SDSU -7.5
25	Troy	vs. Arkansas State	TROY -8.5

Top Games

Oklahoma at West Virginia

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West Virginia has become a legitimate playoff contender thanks to its 8-1 record, but the squad will have to beat Oklahoma at home if it has any real title aspirations.

The Mountaineers certainly have a lot of good things going for them, including a balanced offensive attack with a number of playmakers who can beat you from anywhere on the field. The defense has also proved itself as tough opposition.

Unfortunately, they haven't faced anyone as talented as Oklahoma this season on either side of the ball, and this game will be a wake-up call.

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has been lights out lately, throwing 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions in his last four games. Despite his impressive numbers, he wants more attention on his top receiver, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com:

Dede Westbrook wasn't 100 percent at the start of the year during losses to Houston and Ohio State, but he has 14 touchdown receptions in his last seven games. He is as good of a big-play threat as there is in college football, and West Virginia isn't likely to slow him down.

Add in an elite backfield of Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine, and Oklahoma simply has too many weapons to stop.

This will likely be a high-scoring, back-and-forth battle, but the Sooners should be able to take control of the Big 12 with a win in this one.

Prediction: Oklahoma 45, West Virginia 35 

Washington State at Colorado 

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There hasn't been a lot of discussion on the Pac-12 this season, especially beyond the previously undefeated Washington. With traditional powers like Oregon, UCLA and even Stanford struggling, the attention has turned elsewhere.

However, these are two talented squads facing off Saturday in a game that could go a long way toward deciding the Pac-12 title.

Colorado is 8-2 on the year with losses on the road to USC and Michigan, two of the more talented teams in college football. The defense has been impressive throughout the season, holding five of the team's 10 opponents to 10 points or fewer. They have also kept playmakers like Christian McCaffrey and JuJu Smith-Schuster out of the end zone.

On the other hand, few teams in the country have been as hot as Washington State. As Bryan Fischer of Athlon Sports noted, only Alabama has a longer winning streak than the Cougars' eight in a row.

Quarterback Luke Falk is playing as well as anyone in college football, as he ranks second in passing yards with 3,610, first in completion percentage at 73.9 percent and is tied for fifth with 33 passing touchdowns.

His ability to spread the ball to his many targets will overwhelm Colorado throughout the day. The Cougars defense will have to step up, but the unit can make just enough plays to pull out a contested win.

Prediction: Washington State 28, Colorado 24

Florida at LSU

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Getting to this game was no easy task.

This contest was originally postponed due to Hurricane Matthew in October and only came to fruition when the two sides agreed to move the game from Gainesville to Baton Rouge, plus choosing to buy out the other schools already on the schedule. 

Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what went down with the negotiations, with LSU privately questioning Florida's willingness to play the game. This will almost certainly lead to some bad blood between the teams.

"They can't run no more," LSU running back Derrius Guice said, per Ross Dellenger of the Advocate.

While this is certain to be an intense game, all the trash talk between players and executives won't matter once the action on the field begins.

Both sides have elite defenses, with LSU allowing 13.9 points per game and Florida topping that at 13.3 points allowed per game, both among the top six in the country. This is certain to keep it a low-scoring battle, enough for the Gators to easily stay within the two-touchdown spread.

However, the game will come down to which offense can move the ball more efficiently, and that will likely be the Tigers. The running combination of Leonard Fournette and Guice combined for 350 rushing yards and five touchdowns last week against Arkansas.

The Gators aren't quite as good as Alabama defensively, meaning they won't be able to shut down the run like the Crimson Tide did two weeks ago.

Look for LSU to edge Florida at home in a game that will have major bowl implications.

Prediction: LSU 17, Florida 13

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