Tom Tingle/The Republic

Rick Neuheisel Predicts Unexpected Upset in College Football on Saturday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Nov 13, 2024 9:36 AM ET

Week 11 of college football was thrilling, and if Week 12 brings any of the same drama, we’re in for a treat over the weekend.

The College Football Playoff committee revealed their second Top 25 and playoff rankings on Tuesday night, and after some major shake-ups, we now get to see which Week 12 matchups could have major implications.

One of those games? The Georgia Bulldogs, who slipped to No. 12 in the latest rankings, hosting the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night.

On “Inside College Football” Tuesday, the CBS Sports crew made some predictions, and the boldest of them all came from former UCLA head coach and alumni Rick Neuheisel, who believes that Tennessee, currently 10-point road underdogs, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, will pull off the upset against the Bulldogs and Georgia’s woes will continue.

“This should be a monster game, and I expect it to be. You've got Tennessee, who is top ten in both offense and defense in the country, and Georgia’s always going to be ranked very highly defensively." Neuheisel said. "Where Georgia struggles right now is they’re 50th in the country offensively… and they have a quarterback who throws it to the other team. I’ve got to take Tennessee, even on the road.”

"Where Georgia struggles right now is they're 50th in the country offensively... And a QB who throws it to the other team."@CoachNeuheisel says he's taking No. 7 @Vol_Football over the 12th-ranked Dawgs this Saturday pic.twitter.com/CtB0QNMQov
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) November 13, 2024

This would essentially eliminate Georgia from any playoff aspirations. While they have one of the toughest schedules in all of college football, it will be very hard to justify putting a three-loss Georgia team in the playoffs, especially when they are playing their worst football of the season just a couple of weeks before the playoffs begin.

Yet, every time doubt creeps in about Kirby Smart's team, they always seem to respond. This week may be no different, as the betting line suggests that people haven’t lost faith in Georgia just yet.

The Bulldogs thrive at home, and this is an opportunity to feed off that Athens crowd. The one person who needs a home game more than anyone is quarterback Carson Beck, who has had to battle in tough environments all season. He currently leads the SEC in interceptions and desperately needs a game to regain some confidence in his overall game, and this could be the one to do so.

However, Neuheisel believes otherwise, and he has been quite impressive with his upset picks this season, which will make for an interesting Saturday night matchup in Athens, Georgia.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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