BETTING

Saturday Night College Football Best Bets – Aug 30

The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns at play during the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

We rarely see a college football season schedule with such a monster Week 1 game for noon on Saturday, but 2025 is setting quite the stage when No. 1 Texas takes on No. 3 Ohio State in a playoff rematch from last year that was crucial to the Buckeyes winning the national championship.

This Saturday looks like a legendary one with multiple top 10 showdowns, so be sure to find all the college football odds for every game at OddsTrader. We have our expert picks below on the games that caught our eye this Saturday.

Targeting the Top Showdowns in Week 1

The theme this Saturday is elite matchups. Texas vs. Ohio State is one you just have to soak in and enjoy, then, after flipping the remote for a few hours, you could lock into another top 10 matchup at night between No. 9 LSU and No. 4 Clemson in a great coaching battle.

Remember to go easy on your Week 1 bankroll and save some for the rest of Week 1 as we still have Notre Dame vs. Miami on Sunday and Bill Belichick’s NCAAF debut with North Carolina to close the week on Monday night.

Here are 3 of our favorite bets for the 1st loaded Saturday slate of college football in the 2025 season.

Texas vs. Ohio State (-1.5)

It’s a historic game with Texas being the 1st team ranked No. 1 to end up as a Week 1 underdog to start a college football season. But that’s a tough draw when you get Ryan Day and the defending champs from Ohio State on the road to start your season.

However, we’ve seen some line movement as this was Buckeyes -2.5 at many sportsbooks, while it’s been getting closer to Texas the closer we get to kickoff. When these teams met in the playoffs, it was a late fumble by Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers that was returned for a touchdown in Ohio State’s 28-14 victory.

But instead of parsing through the spread here, we’re going another route and taking the under 47.5 points, as this is a battle of defenses that ranked in the top 3 in points allowed last year. Both teams are replacing experienced quarterbacks with inexperienced quarterbacks, and while Arch Manning has all the hype for Texas, we haven’t seen him face any competition to this level yet. Julian Sayin is a redshirt freshman quarterback for Ohio State, so he’s another wild card in this epic matchup.

But we’re going with the defenses to steal the show again.

Expert Pick: Under 47.5 (-110) at BetMGM

Alabama vs. Florida State (+14)

Expectations are high for No. 8 Alabama in the 2nd season on the job for coach Kalen DeBoer after taking over for the legend that was Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide finished 9-4 last year, but Ty Simpson is ready to go at quarterback to replace Jalen Milroe.

Meanwhile, Florida State is coming off a miserable 2-10 season where they averaged just 15.4 points per game – ranked No. 131 in the nation. Things should be brighter this year, but Alabama is clearly the more talented team on both sides of the ball, home-field advantage withstanding.

You never like to see a 14-point spread as 13.5 would be much more preferable for Alabama bettors, but we’re still going to trust the Crimson Tide to get a convincing 2-touchdown win to start the 2025 season.

Expert Pick: Alabama -14 (-110) at BetMGM

LSU vs. Clemson (-4)

It’s another top 10 matchup this Saturday at Memorial Stadium between No. 9 LSU and No. 4 Clemson. You get two great college coaches with Brian Kelly and Dabo Swinney going at it with the college football playoffs (CFP) as their goal this year.

Clemson is home and has a fantastic quarterback with Heisman and NFL prospects in Cade Klubnik. But don’t sleep on Garrett Nussmeier at quarterback for LSU, which has been a powerhouse at producing great wide receivers for the last decade.

But Kelly has a shaky record against elite teams in the last few years, and the LSU offensive line has several new starters against a very deep defensive front of Clemson. Throw in that home crowd for Clemson, and we’ll take the home team to cover the spread here.

Expert Pick: Clemson -4 (-110) at BetMGM 

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*21+ Seek help with a gambling addiction at 1-800-Gambler

*The line and/or odds referenced in this article might have changed since the content was published. For the latest information on line movements, visit OddsTrader’s free betting odds tool.

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