Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and the rest of the “College GameDay” crew made their predictions for Week 12 games in both SEC and Top 25 action ahead of Saturday’s games.
Here’s who Saban picked while joining Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, and celebrity guest picker Cody Rhodes (a WWE wrestler and actor), on the set of GameDay from outside Sanford Stadium in Athens ahead of tonight’s marquee matchup between the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs. (6:30 p.m. CT, ABC)
Nick Saban Week 12 SEC, Top 25 college football picks
Week 12’s slate is somewhat light in terms of head-to-head matchups. Only two games feature teams that are both ranked in the Top 25, including Tennessee-Georgia. To that end, Saban picked former assistant Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs to get a win in Sanford Stadium against Josh Heupel’s Vols.
Saban said:
“I think Georgia has the heart of a champion. They’ve won a lot of close games. They’ve won a lot of tough games. They’ve played in a lot of big games. I think Georgia responds tonight and the Hunting Dogs show up. Bulldogs.”
Elsewhere in SEC play, Saban picked the No. 3 Texas Longhorns to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, the No. 23 South Carolina Gamecocks to beat the No. 21 Missouri Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium, and the No. 22 LSU Tigers to beat the Florida Gators in Gainesville.
In other games involving Top 25 teams, Saban picked Dabo Swinney and the No. 16 Clemson Tigers to beat the Pitt Panthers in Pittsburgh. He also picked the No. 13 SMU Mustangs to beat Boston College, and the No. 19 Kansas State Wildcats to beat the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Saban picked Deion Sanders and the No. 20 Colorado Buffaloes to beat the Utah Utes, the No. 8 BYU Cougars to remain unbeaten against the Kansas Jayhawks, and the No. 25 Tulane Green Wave to beat Navy to clinch a berth in the AAC championship game.