College Football Week 1 Best Bets (Texas Will Take Down Ohio State on Saturday)

Iain MacMillan | Aug 28, 2025

Texas is an underdog against Ohio State in College Football Week 1. / Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Week 0 of the College Football season was a perfect warm-up for us football fans and bettors, but now it's time for the real deal. We have four days straight of college football Week 1 matchups, highlighted by some marquee matchups, including a must-watch battle between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State.

If this week's college football schedule is overwhelming in terms of finding which games to bet on, let me help you out. In this article, I'm going to break down my top picks, including my play for Texas vs. Ohio State.

College Football Week 1 Top Picks

• Georgia Tech -4.5 (-105) vs. Colorado (via Caesars)
• Texas +2.5 (-115) vs Ohio State (via FanDuel)
• South Dakota +500 vs. Iowa State (via FanDuel)
• Ball State vs. Purdue OVER 50.5 (-110) (via Caesars)
• UCLA +6 (-105) vs. Utah (via BetMGM)

Georgia Tech vs. Colorado Prediction

I'm not ready to believe in Colorado until the Buffaloes can prove to me they can win without Sanders at quarterback and a Heisman Trophy winner in Hunter at both wide receiver and cornerback. This Colorado team, the past two seasons, was a talented squad, and while the Buffs have done their best to replace those players through the Transfer Portal, it may be too tall a task for them to continue the impressive level of play they showed in 2023 and 2024.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets are returning plenty of players from the 2024 season this year, and their secondary is expected to be a tough unit that should have no problem slowing down Colorado's pass-first offense.

I'll lay the points with Georgia Tech.

Pick: Georgia Tech -4.5 (-105)

Ball State vs. Purdue Prediction

Ball State and Purdue had two of the worst defenses in the country last season. Both defenses allowed 6.9 yards per play, which ranked in the bottom five amongst all 134 teams. They did little in the offseason to completely fix the issues they both have on the defensive side of the football, which leads me to believe this could be an offensive shootout.

Pick: OVER 50.5 (-110)

Texas vs. Ohio State Prediction

Ohio State has to deal with the more difficult turnover from last year's National Championship team to this year's version of the squad. It wasn't just talent that the Buckeyes lost, but also leadership in key roles.

Meanwhile, Texas seems poised to establish itself as the top team in the nation with Manning now set as its permanent starter. A lot of people felt the Longhorns would've been better off last season if he were the full-time starter over Quinn Ewers, so confidence has to be at an all-time high for one of the deepest teams in the country.

Pick: Texas +2 (-110)

South Dakota vs. Iowa State Prediction

In this week's edition of upset picks, I broke down why I think the FCS team, South Dakota, is worth a sprinkle to pull off the upset at +500:

I wasn't impressed with Iowa State in Week 0. Sure, the Cyclones got the win, but they had a Net Yards per Play of -2.6, and looked lost without an answer at receiver to replace Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, who are now in the NFL.

In Week 1, they have to deal with jet lag as they return home to take on an extremely tough FCS team in South Dakota. It's worth noting that South Dakota averaged just 3.31 opponent yards per carry last season, one of the best marks at the FCS level. If Iowa State struggles to run the ball against this defense, they have no answer through the air. This matchup smells prime for an upset.

Pick: South Dakota +500

Utah vs. UCLA Prediction

I'm not sure if Iamaleava is going to find long-term success at UCLA, but I do think he's going to get off to a hot start in Week 1. It would be hard to argue that he's not the better of the two starting quarterbacks in this game, considering Devon Dampier completed just 57.9% of passes while throwing 12 interceptions for the Lobos in 2024.

Both teams have some holes to fill defensively, but UCLA getting six points on its home field with the far better quarterback behind center is too tempting a bet to pass up. I'll back the Bruins.

Pick: UCLA +6 (-105)

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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