Caleb Wilfinger
It’s been a long and eventful spring and summer, and now the 2025 college football season is finally upon us. Week 0 was a nice appetizer, but the battle for a spot in the newly revamped 12-team College Football Playoff fully begins in earnest this weekend and won’t slow down until a champion is crowned next 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. Much like the 2 years prior, the 2024 season was a profitable one for this column, as I finished the season on a 21-7 run to close out bowl season and the College Football Playoff. Hopefully you cashed with me!
While Saturday’s slate nearly upon us, there are still a couple of good value bets on the board to be had. Let’s take a look at my CFB best bets for Saturday, while you can also find out all of our expert CFB picks for this weekend’s action.
Want more college football picks? Check out our NCAAF futures betting guide for EVERY Pickswise prediction for the 2025 CFB season
CFB best bet: Utah Utes -5.5 over UCLA Bruins (-110)
Odds available at BetMGM Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Utah -6.
I’m very high on this Utah team in what could be Kyle Whittingham’s final year as the head coach, and the Utes should take a massive leap on offense after bringing in Devon Dampier (New Mexico), along with offensive coordinator Jason Beck to completely revamp this unit. Dampier could be one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation, and he should be in position to succeed behind what should be the best offensive line in the Big 12, which immediately gives the Utah offense a leg up on a UCLA defense that returns just one starter from a season ago and will be breaking in 14 new transfers on that side of the ball. I’m confident in Dampier and the Utes ability to control the line of scrimmage, particularly as the game wears on.
On the other side of the ball, Nico Iamaleava steps in at quarterback for a Bruins offense that is only returning 2 starters and will also be breaking in 11 non-quarterback transfers this season. While he certainly has plenty of arm talent, Iamaleava left a lot to be desired from a pocket presence and decision-making perspective last season, and things won’t get any easier against defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley’s 4-2-5 scheme to open the campaign.
With so many moving parts for the Bruins offense, I have a hard time believing that UCLA will hit the ground running on Saturday. From a numbers perspective, this is a game that I have projected closer to Utah as a 4.5-point favorite, but this is an instance where I’m comfortable backing the Utes at anything under a touchdown. We’ll take Whittingham’s team to start off the season with a convincing victory.
After yesterday’s +435 winner, don’t miss out on today’s college football parlay picks at +697 odds!
CFB Best bet: Clemson Tigers -3.5 over LSU Tigers (-115)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable at that number, or take Clemson team total over 30.5.
In what could end up being the best game on Saturday’s Week 1 slate, the LSU Tigers will take on the Clemson Tigers at Death Valley under the lights in a pivotal battle for both of these teams. On one side, the visitors are coming in having lost every season-opener in the Brian Kelly era thus far. In fact, LSU has lost 5 consecutive contests to open the season, as Kelly’s teams have consistently looked unprepared and not all that sharp against comparable competition. On the other side, Clemson enters this game with sky-high expectations and Dabo Swinney’s team has also struggled against SEC competition in recent seasons, including dropping games to Georgia, South Carolina and Texas last year. Something has to give in the battle of the Tigers!
After a disappointing 2024 campaign, LSU underwent a number of changes on defense in the offseason. Blake Baker is still the defensive coordinator, and the Tigers attacked the portal to try and shore up their defensive line and secondary. The talent is certainly there on paper, but the results might not come in Week 1, especially when thrust into a matchup against this Clemson offense. Garrett Riley’s unit started to pick up steam down the stretch last fall, and it was largely due to the growth and development of Cade Klubnik and the tremendous wide receiver trio of TJ Moore, Bryant Wesco Jr., and Antonio Williams. Now, Klubnik should be in position to have a season to remember behind an excellent offensive line that returns 4 of its 5 starters from a season ago.
Defensively, the Tigers bring in Tom Allen to lead a unit that brings back nearly 80% of its production from 2024, including a pair of future first round picks in TJ Parker and Peter Woods on the defensive line. And while Garrett Nussmeier and the LSU offense should see some success in the passing game, the trench play is where I give Clemson the biggest edge in this contest. After all, LSU has some significant pieces to replace on the offensive line and I’m not confident in the Tigers’ ability to have the right line combinations sorted out in the opening game of the season. Throw in the fact that this should be one of the loudest environments we see all season long, and it’s hard to see LSU not stumbling a few times due to communication issues and inexperience.
Ultimately, while I was hoping for Clemson -3 or better in this game, I still see a touch of value on the hosts at the current number. I just can’t ignore Clemson in this spot at home, so let’s back the Tigers to grab a massive victory in their quest for a national title.
CFB Best bet: Northwestern Wildcats +5.5 vs Tulane Green Wave (-110)
Odds available at BetRivers Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to +4.5
For my final best bet of Saturday’s jam-packed slate, I’ll target a game between a pair of teams that I have completely different opinions on heading into the 2025 campaign. In my win total best bets piece, I recommended taking the under on Tulane’s win total this season, and I’m of the belief that the issues for the Green Wave will start right out of the gate with this contest against Northwestern.
Jon Sumrall is a head coach that I have a ton of respect for, but I have major questions about his team on both sides of the ball this year. For starters, Tulane only returns 5 total starters from last season’s squad, and the offense is going through a complete overhaul following the exit of quarterback Darian Mensah and All-Conference running back Makhi Hughes, along with a myriad of wide receivers and pieces on the offensive line. The Green Wave seemed to be very unsure of their quarterback room in the spring, as Tulane ultimately went out and brought in former BYU signal caller Jake Retzlaff following his dismissal from that program. Retzlaff was not a guy I was high on a season ago, and he’s going to be the starter in this game, a move that seems rushed given when he was added to the team.
Tulane’s defense had some strong moments in 2024, but that unit has also gone through a complete overhaul, as defensive coordinator Greg Gasparato will have to work with a ton of transfers to fill in the gaps left by the mass exodus following last season. That bodes well for a Northwestern team that brought in former 5-star quarterback Preston Stone from SMU, a player that excelled in the AAC in 2023 and even has experience against Tulane in the very same stadium as what he’ll see on Saturday. The Wildcats haven’t had this kind of talent at the quarterback position in years, and Northwestern can be trusted to field a solid, fundamentally sound unit on defense under head coach David Braun. That gives me confidence in their ability to perform well in a hostile environment to open the season.
Obviously this was a line that I liked a lot more when it was hovering around a touchdown, but I still see Northwestern winning this game outright, so I’ll gladly take the points with the Wildcats in this one.
