NCAAF

College Football Week 1 Best Bets: Saturday, September 5

CreatedSep 4, 2026

Reading time7 min

Week 0 was a nice appetizer, but the college football season fully begins in earnest this weekend and won’t slow down until a champion is crowned in January. With a loaded weekend of college football ahead of us, it’s time to get into the Week 1 slate with the return of my weekly CFB best bets column. We got off to a 2-0 start in the column in Week 0, and the good vibes kept coming as I cashed both of my best bets on Thursday's card. Let's keep the momentum going!

With the weeknight slate behind us, it's time to turn our attention to Saturday's massive 68-game card. Let’s take a look at my CFB best bets for today, while you can also find all of our expert CFB picks for this weekend’s action and every FBS game throughout the year.

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CFB Best Bet: UCLA Bruins vs California Bears Over 53.5 (-110)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Over 54.

These are a pair of teams that look almost entirely different from a season ago, and both sides are expected to take significant strides forward in their respective conferences. From my perspective, this game is lined pretty accurately in terms of the point spread, and it's hard to get a feel for which team will come out on top. With that in mind, I'm going to target the total in what is sure to be an entertaining contest.

UCLA is a team that I'm pretty high on heading into the season -- and while the Bruins are coming off a very poor season in 2025, those stats can essentially be disregarded completely given the coaching and personnel upgrades as a part of Bob Chesney's new staff. New offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy has a strong track record of working with quarterbacks, going back to his days at Holy Cross with Chesney earlier this decade. I fully expect Kennedy to get the most out of Nico Iamaleava, a player who has the skill set to be one of the better quarterbacks in a loaded Big Ten this season. The former five-star prospect is surrounded by talent on this offense, including star running back Wayne Knight — who is part of a litany of James Madison players that followed Chesney to Los Angeles in the offseason. As a result, there should be enough continuity within this program that we should see UCLA's new-look offense hit the ground running in Berkeley.

As for the home team, Cal should be one of the more entertaining teams to watch in the Big Ten this season -- especially with quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele at the controls of this offense. The Bears should be much improved at the wide receiver position after bringing in multiple exciting transfers to upgrade a receiver room that was quite poor in 2025. New head coach Tosh Lupoi is known as a defensive mind, but he has plenty to replace from last season's unit -- most notably leading tackler Cade Uluave. I don't expect this new rebuilt unit to fully gel until later on this season, which gives early opponents a chance to attack and put up plenty of points. If the Bruins are able to start fast, we should see plenty of points in a game that will surely feature tempo and explosive plays from both sides. Let's roll with the over in this one.

Don't miss our expert's full analysis for our UCLA vs Cal prediction

CFB Best Bet: Oregon Ducks team total over 37.5 over Boise State Broncos (-125)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Over 38 (-110).

Much like many other handicappers and analysts in this space, Oregon is my preseason national title pick and I'm expecting the Ducks to start their 2026 campaign with a bang on Saturday. Dan Lanning is certainly familiar with this opponent, seeing as the Broncos pushed the Ducks to the brink at Autzen Stadium back in 2024. Not only did that game come down to the final play, but Oregon needed multiple touchdowns on special teams to survive a very spirited effort from Ashton Jeanty and company. With that in mind, it's safe to say that Lanning and his coaching staff have referenced that game multiple times to the team in preparation for this week’s contest, and the Ducks should be very prepared to deal with the upstart Broncos this time around.

There is obviously a lot to like about Oregon this season, and it all starts with an offense that brings back Dante Moore — arguably the best quarterback in the nation — and an extremely deep and versatile skill position group with tons of talent at every position. They'll also be facing a Boise State defense that projects to be significantly weaker than the 2024 version of this unit. The Broncos simply don't have the pieces to make things challenging for a focus Oregon offense and we can expect the Ducks to be operating at their efficient best in the home opener. Additionally, Oregon boasts the best defensive line in the nation — one that should have no trouble stopping the Boise State ground attack and could certainly a force a couple of turnovers from Maddux Madsen, who threw six interceptions in only two games against Power 4 competition a season ago. The Ducks should come out flying and I don't expect Lanning to take his foot off the gas in this one.

Be sure to check out our full Boise State vs Oregon prediction for their matchup on Saturday

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CFB Best Bet: Tulsa Golden Hurricane +14.5 vs Oklahoma State Cowboys (-120)

Odds available at BetMGM Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Tulsa +13.5 (-105).

An intriguing game that is flying under the radar from a national perspective comes in this in-state battle between Oklahoma State and Tulsa. The Cowboys are arguably the most improved team in the country heading into this season, and much of that has to do with the massive overhaul of this roster in the offseason. After a putrid 1-11 campaign a year ago, Oklahoma State brought in Eric Morris to be its new head coach, and the former head man at North Texas brought in 16 transfers from a Mean Green team that finished 12-2 and was the top offense in the nation in 2025. Now quarterback Drew Mestemaker and company have a chance to prove it at the Power 4 level, and the market is pretty high on the Cowboys heading into the season. However, this is a pretty feisty first opponent for Morris' bunch and I'm anticipating a fairly close game on Saturday.

Tulsa is a team that deserved better than its 4-8 record a season ago, especially given how difficult the quarterback situation was for Tre Lamb's group. This season, the QB play should be much improved with Baylor Hayes as the full-time starter. The offense as a whole should be significantly better thanks to a talented group of transfer running backs, plus new additions at wide receiver and a deeper offensive line room. Defensively, this is where the Golden Hurricane made their mark a season ago, and I'm pretty bullish on their chances to continue that momentum thanks to the litany of Power 4 transfers and returning production on that side of the ball. On paper, Oklahoma State's offense has all of the tools to put up big numbers all season long, but the Cowboys' defense is unproven and this game is anything but a layup for a team that is suddenly dealing with much higher expectations. I'll take the points with Tulsa at home.

Don't miss our expert's full analysis for our Oklahoma State vs Tulsa prediction