College Football Updated Win Totals Predictions: Week 0 (2025)

by Matthew MacKay |
Aug 20, 2025

The 2025 college football season is set to get underway on Saturday. Week 0 kicks off with the Aer Lingus Classic in Dublin, Ireland, featuring a top-25 matchup between No. 17 Kansas State vs. No. 22 Iowa State.

Most ranked teams won’t be playing until Week 1, so there’s still time to hunt for value within the college football futures markets. We’re going to focus on several different win totals to target before all 134 FBS programs get underway on August 30.

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College Football Win Totals: Week 0

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

Rutgers Regular Season Wins

Rutgers enters 2025 with a low regular season win total set to 5.5. The Scarlet Knights are still coached by Greg Schiano during his second stint with the program, coming off of a 7-5 regular season record in 2024.

Athan Kaliakmanis remains QB1 for Schiano in 2025, so there’s continuity within the offense. Former workhorse RB Kyle Monangai is gone, which is a big reason why oddsmakers are lower on the Scarlet Knights this season. He’s being replaced by Florida Atlantic transfer RB CJ Campbell, who logged 5.1 YPC for his former team in 2024.

Rutgers is a rugged team that relies on its physicality and dominance at the line of scrimmage to win games. They finished 2024 averaging 28.9 points per game (57th) and gave up 25.4 points per game, ranked 70th in the country.

The 2025 schedule has winnable games against Ohio, Miami (OH), Norfolk State and Purdue. They do have a tough schedule in the latter half of the season, with four top-12 matchups against Big Ten opponents. However, the Scarlet Knights have enough talent and continuity to string together at least two more wins against the likes of Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, and Maryland.

Lay the juice and bet Over 5.5 total wins on Rutgers at -140 ahead of their Week 1 home tilt against the Ohio Bobcats.

Pick: Over 5.5 Wins (-140)

Tennessee Regular Season Wins

Former QB Nico Iamaleava is gone from head coach Josh Heupel’s offense, meaning Tennessee will now start senior transfer QB Joey Aguilar under center. Aguilar left Appalachian State after throwing for over 3,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, including a 7.2 percent touchdown rate in 2023.

Despite losing RB Dylan Sampson to the NFL, Heupel still has RB DeSean Bishop and transfer Star Thomas to fill the void in the backfield. The Volunteers’ defense was impressive in 2024 and returns most of its starters after limiting opponents to 16.1 points per game, ranked seventh-best in the country.

Notable matchups include No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Alabama, No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 15 Florida. Two of those games are at home at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Tennessee could start the year 5-1 or potentially 6-0 if they upset the Bulldogs at home in Week 3.

Playing in the SEC means there is going to be losses on Tennessee’s final record. However, setting the win total line to 8.5 is a bit too low. There’s value on backing the new-look Vols to log nine or more regular season wins at plus odds.

Pick: Over 8.5 Wins (+125)

Penn State Regular Season Wins

Penn State is once again a darling in the preseason AP polls, ranked No. 2 in the country. The Nittany Lions return QB Drew Allar alongside running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton in the backfield.

After a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Semifinal last season, head coach James Franklin is looking for another productive season out of his roster. The loss of edge rusher Abdul Carter is notable, although Zane Durant should be a highlight-reel player at this same position in 2025.

The Nittany Lions have three new starting wideouts through the transfer portal, attempting to rejuvenate their passing attack with Allar back in the fold. In 2025, Penn State plays three top-ranked opponents, all in the Big Ten, including No. 7 Oregon and No. 20 Indiana at home.

Ohio State remains the team Franklin has struggled to beat during his tenure in State College. Assuming that’s another loss, this means the Nittany Lions will have to go 11-1 the rest of the way to go over 10.5 total wins. There were several close-calls in 2024, so I anticipate another loss to Oregon, Indiana, or even on the road against UCLA or Michigan State. Fade the hype and bet on Under 10.5 total wins for Penn State at -115 odds.

Pick: Under 10.5 Wins (-115)

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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.

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