College football Week 12 preview: Chaos, contenders, and can’t-miss storylines

Week 12 of the 2025 college football season amps up the stakes, serving up a slate of heavyweight matchups as the playoff picture begins to sharpen.

With tension rising and contenders running out of runway, here are the storylines, swing games, and spark-plug moments to watch as another high-octane NCAA weekend gets underway.

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Stern tests await as two SEC teams continue on the road to redemption

When the first set of College Football Playoff rankings were released last week, there was mild surprise that Texas and Oklahoma - a pair of 2-loss SEC programs - were 11th and 12th respectively.

The Longhorns had a sluggish start to the year and have only recently begun to look like a team capable of competing with the elite. Conversely, the Sooners were beaten by Texas in the Red River Rivalry and didn’t really have a win to hang their hat on until they beat Tennessee in Week 10.

Despite their recent upturn in fortunes, Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venables will both be acutely aware that one more loss likely means playoff football is beyond them this season. So how does a pair of road trips to conference opponents both ranked in the top five take your fancy?

Oklahoma are up first, heading to Tuscaloosa to take on #4 Alabama who, since their shock defeat in Week 1 to Florida State, have looked like the Crimson Tide we were all accustomed to under Nick Saban.

Quarterback Ty Simpson is a Heisman candidate who has a touchdown-interception ratio of 8:0 in his last four games against SEC opponents. Knocking off ‘Bama in Bryant-Denny is going to be no easy feat.

Texas, meanwhile, doesn't have it any easier on the road at #5 Georgia. Athens is an intimidating place to visit, and save for a three-point loss to Alabama, the Bulldogs have been near-perfect themselves in 2025.

Both available to watch on DAZN, can the Sooners and Longhorns save their seasons?

Race for the ACC hots up

The ACC is down on its luck in 2025. Preseason playoff hopefuls Clemson and Florida State have, by their own high standards, stunk. And teams that have risen to the top in their absence - Miami, Virginia, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh - have all suffered disappointing losses that have seen them fall out of favour with the CFP committee.

But there’s still a conference to win. And if you win the ACC, you’re almost certainly in the playoffs.

The top five conference champions receive automatic playoff berths regardless of their ranking. Which means there’s still a hell of a lot on the line for the Cavaliers, Cardinals, Hurricanes, Panthers and Yellow Jackets.

DAZN has extensive coverage of the conference this weekend. Can Louisville overcome Clemson? Will Pitt be able to derail the Notre Dame juggernaut? And what of Miami, who have endured their annual midseason meltdown despite all the money they’ve given to Carson Beck? It’s sink or swim time in the ACC.

One final thought; don’t discount Duke in this drama. The Blue Devils might be 5-4, but they only have one conference loss. Beat Virginia this weekend and the schedule sets them up nicely for a run to the conference championship game - perhaps a Manny Diaz revenge game against the ‘Canes.

They couldn’t, could they?

The Battle for the Boot

2025 has not been kind to LSU or Arkansas. Both have failed to meet expectations. Both have fired their head coaches despite astronomical buyouts. And both have very little to play for the remainder of this season.

Save for this weekend.

These two schools do not like each other. Neighbouring states that border each other North to South, the Tigers & Razorbacks have battled one another since 1901. LSU leads the series 43-23-2 and is currently on a 3-game winning streak, with Arkansas only winning one of the last nine matchups.

Despite the recent dominance of the Tigers, the Hogs go into this one with hope. Interim head coach Bobby Petrino knows how to win this game; he did it twice as head coach between 2008 and 2011. And if rivalry, hatred or competitiveness isn’t enough to spur you on to victory, how about an audacious trophy?

The ‘Golden Boot’ has been handed to the victors since 1996. Approximately 4 feet tall and moulded out of 24-carat gold, the trophy is valued at $10,000. Depicting the two adjoining states it looks like a boot, hence the name. And at 200 pounds, it's the heaviest true trophy in college football.

Forget records. Forget the playoffs. THIS is what college football is all about.