It’s time to get excited! College football is just days away!
The Colorado Buffaloes kick off their season with a Friday night matchup against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at 6:00 pm MT, and we at Ralphie Report have put together a little gift to our readers ahead of the upcoming weekend of football.
Here is our official week one betting guide, presented by Fanduel!
We’ve thrown in our picks for CU’s game on Friday, as well as a couple of other freebies and bets we like from across the college football
world, because why not?
Colorado vs. Georgia Tech picks
Colorado Moneyline (+155)
Yes, this is a Colorado blog. Yes, we are probably (definitely) a little bit biased, but we really wholeheartedly believe in our Buffaloes.
Regardless of what you are hearing from national media pundits, CU is going to be a whole lot better than people think this season. Although the Buffs lost their Heisman-winning superstar and best passer in program history, Colorado managed to retain a surprising amount of talent.
All-American offensive tackle Jordan Seaton stuck around, as did emerging star cornerback DJ McKinney. Promising young players like wide receivers Omarion Miller and Drelon Miller, along with running back Micah Welch, are on the verge of becoming household names in Boulder. If you’re sleeping on this squad and writing them off as a lower-end Power Four team, you are sorely mistaken.
Would you be shocked if I said that I think the Buffs matched up favorably against the Yellow Jackets? Well, Vegas would, as CU is pegged as a 4.5-point underdog against Georgia Tech.
Let’s take a second to take a deeper dive into personnel and what these teams excel at. Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key has turned GT into a run-first powerhouse since he arrived in Atlanta. Running back Jamal Haynes has been great for the Yellow Jackets, rushing for 944 yards last season and 1059 in the season prior.
That’s scary, but so is Colorado’s defensive line. Returning players Amari McNeill and Anquin Barnes Jr. are ready to wreak havoc in the Big 12 from the interior d-line. Quency Wiggins, Arden Walker, Sam Okunlola and Keaten Wade will all be lethal off the edge. Colorado already had one of the best defensive lines in the Big 12 in 2024, leading the conference in sacks, and there’s good reason to believe that the unit has actually improved. All this to say, I believe CU can make life hard for Jamal Haynes.
What this game should come down to is whether Colorado’s offense can hold its own against a stout Yellow Jackets’ defense. Assuming Kaidon Salter is named the starting quarterback, CU’s offense should be extremely dynamic. Salter is an elite runner, but he’s also demonstrated he can be an above-average passer. With Colorado’s loaded receiver corps, I think the Buffs should be able to do just enough to beat Georgia Tech, although the game will probably be close.
Georgia Tech Under 28.5 Points (-112)
As I mentioned above, I really like how Colorado’s defense stacks up against Georgia Tech’s offense. CU’s defensive front should make it hard for Jamal Haynes to find his footing, and quarterback Haynes King won’t be able to get too comfortable dropping back to pass.
This game is going to be a defensive showdown. Three Georgia Tech touchdowns sound like the perfect sweet spot for me. That 28.5 point under gives you a nice little cushion with plenty of wiggle room for some field goals or an extra touchdown if need be.
This is a low-risk, low-reward bet that I really like if you’re a Colorado fan. Make sure to put this guy in your paylays as a nice little odds kicker because I’m confident in this one.
Elsewhere
Baylor to cover +2.5 point spread against Auburn in Waco (-110)
This is one of the week one non-conference matchups that I’m most excited for. Hugh Freeze’s Auburn Tigers travel to Waco for a Big 12 vs. SEC matchup between two teams looking to break out in 2025.
Simply put, I like Baylor in this game. Yes, they are the home team and will have a distinctive home field advantage along the banks of the Brazos River, but it’s more than that. The Bears are one of the sneaky best teams in the Big 12 and should give Auburn a run for their money.
Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson is the real deal and one of the most underrated in the nation. If you’re a Colorado fan, you should know all too well about Robertson, as he tore the Buffs up in the air and on the ground in 2024. Outside of the quarterback position, Bears head coach Dave Aranda has done a good job stocking up on talent on both lines and minimizing any weaknesses on his roster.
While Auburn should be better than they were last season after adding former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, I still think they are a year or more out from being an actually good squad. There’s plenty of talent on Auburn’s roster, consistent of an SEC team, but I think that Baylor in Waco will be a buzzsaw that Freeze and his Tigers really stuggle with.
I’ve gone ahead and just picked Baylor to cover the spread to afford myself a little wiggle room, but if you’re feeling a bit more risky, feel free to take Bears moneyline at +112. Pretty good value, if you ask me.
Texas Moneyline against Ohio State (+100)
Texas traveling to the Horseshoe to take on the reigning national champion Buckeyes is undeniably the crown jewel of week one. If you ask me, I think people are really overthinking this matchup.
Ohio State still has two of the best players in their positions in the nation in receiver Jerimiah Brown and safety Caleb Downs, but let’s look at all that the Buckeyes lost following their natty win. Most of OSU’s key players, like quarterback Will Howard, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, running backs Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins and offensive lineman Donovan Jackson, are all now in the NFL.
Julian Sayin, a former five-star recruit and OSU’s new quarterback, is a complete unknown. We don’t know how this Ohio State team will look on the field, which is something to keep in mind when betting this game.
Shifting gears to Texas, there is much more consistency and through lines on this Longhorns squad heading into this season. We know UT quarterback Arch Manning is a superstar in the making. Anthony Hill Jr. is one of the best linebackers in the country. The combo of Malik Muhammad and Michael Taaffe will be hard to be in the secondary.
Knowing what we do about these two teams, Texas moneyline at +100 is an absolute steal.
Sicko game – Tulane to cover -5.5 spread against Northwestern (-110)
This wouldn’t be a college football betting guide if we didn’t mention at least one out-of-the-box sicko game that no one other than us will be paying attention to. For week one, that game will be the Northwestern Wildcats’ trip to The Big Easy to take on the Tulane Green Wave.
Tulane’s sheer insistence to not take a step back despite everything that the college football world has thrown at them over the last 5ish~ years is equally as unprecedented as it is impressive, and head coach John Sumrall has done a great job making sure that the Green Wave take another big step forward this season.
Sumrall had ample opportunity to jump ship to a Power Four program after Tulane’s impressive 2024 campaign, but decided to stay in New Orleans to build something special. So far, that decision has paid off. Because of that, Tulane has retained an impressive amount of talent from last season.
While Tulane did lose its promising young quarterback in Darian Mensah, Sumrall was able to land a massive commitment from former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff after controversy led to his departure from Provo. Retzlaff is legit and dangerous, as Colorado fans already know if they watched last year’s Alamo Bowl, where BYU demolished the Buffs.
With the talent on display on the Green Wave’s roster, Tulane should beat a lowly Northwestern squad by at least one touchdown, easily cashing this beat.
