Final 2024 Record
Blaine Duncan: 41-33 (Semifinals: 0-2) – 55%
TD Wood: 33-40-1 (Semifinals: 2-0) – 46%
Mallory McCormack: 35-39 (Semifinals: 0-2) – 47%
Greg Bosworth: 32-42 (Semifinals: 1-1) – 43%
The 2025 college football season is officially here now that Week 0 and Farmageddon is past. Apologies, again, to all the Irish. The coming season has its hopefuls, but it's still wide open. As Blaine is eating steak and TD, Mallory, and Greg fill their plates with beans, it's time to place the bets once again. Want in on some game play? Join The Alabama Take's annual College Football Pick 'Em while there's still time where you rank your selections based on your confidence. And for the gamblers, be sure also to play Takin' On Sports's College Pick 'Em against the spread. Winners get surprises in the mail! Let the season begin!
Blaine Duncan
You have to toot your own horn somewhere, and I won both this column's picks and our league's fantasy football for the first time while the rest of the world burned to a crisp. Hooray, football!
Texas at Ohio State (OVER: 47.5) - At the time of my typing, this game is Ohio State-1.5 and that is damn near a pick 'em. For a home team. Yeah, Sark and co. are looking for revenge after only losing to the Ryan Day and the Buckeyes a few months ago. And yeah, Arch Manning is playing for Texas these days -- did y'all hear? But the game feels like a shootout, right? Probably best to stay away from the big games -- and this is the biggest game -- but I like the back and forth possibilities, even for a noon kickoff.
LSU at Clemson (-4) - And in the next biggest game of the first weekend: Brian Kelly pouts, tentatively slams his fist on a table, and feigns anger while Dabo Swinney looks unworried that he lives in 2025. Dabo's last few teams have been easy to beat, but Clemson's Cade Klubnik is a seasoned senior taking the snaps. Dabo does much better when he has a good quarterback, and they get LSU at home with a low bar for the cover. If nothing else, the Netflix series SEC Football: Any Given Saturday showed what an uninspiring coach Brian Kelly appears to be. I'll count on a touchdown win at that Death Valley.
Virginia Tech versus South Carolina (-7.5) - Okay, I'll reluctantly bite on the LaNorris Sellers hype. While I do think he's a great quarterback, it's questionable on how well everything else is at South Carolina. The storyline for the Atlanta matchup is a good one: son Shane Beamer takes on his father's old team. Unless he's pressured by the attention, Sellers should be enough to get a ten- or fourteen-point win in the dome for a nice Sunday Gamecocks' game. (I wanted the Notre Dame pick, but TD had already had it; I didn't want to mirror anyone this early in the season with so many quality games. Notre Dame does seem legit this season.)
TD Wood
FINALLY, college football has returned. I’m pretty pumped for this season, and not just because I’m high on the Tide’s chances. I think we’re in for a wonderful season, and I can’t remember the last time we’ve had so many bona fide national title contenders. As for this column, I have to improve on last year’s dismal record. Not only that, but I want the throne. First things first, let’s not start with an 0-fer.
Northwestern at Tulane (-5.5) – The Green Wave are one of the favorites to snatch that G5 auto-bid to the College Football Playoff, and with good reason. Despite losing QB Darian Mensah to the portal, the Tulane roster is still stacked and they’re a well-coached squad. They slipped a bit at the end of last season, costing them a third straight 10-win season, but I like them to come out on fire this year.
Hawaii (+17.5) at Arizona – The Rainbow Warriors came back to beat Stanford in their Week 0 opener, and I like them to take that momentum to Tucson and keep it close - if not outright win - against Arizona. I’m not sure exactly why Vegas has enough confidence in the Wildcats to make the line so high.
Notre Dame (-2.5) at Miami – If you’ve read our predictions for the season, you’ll know that I have the Irish as my pick to win it all. They’ll have a killer defense and run game, and I think they put that on display in the opener. Miami will take a step back on offense without Cam Ward, and while the defense can only get better after last season’s abysmal output, this line is low enough for me to be fairly confident Notre Dame will cover.
Mallory McCormack
False fall, school back in session, pumpkin spice is everywhere, and the unofficial end of summer signaled by Labor Day can mean only one thing…FOOTBALL is BACK!!!!! And football being back means controlled chaos! I didn’t defend my title last year, but it’s a new year and I’m ready to rumble! So without further ado, plus I need to go stock up on Kleenex before Corso’s last GameDay, here are my Week One picks! (Which, by the way, my money is on him wearing the Bucky head tomorrow. Sorry, Bevo)
Notre Dame (-2.5) at Miami - Just to remind everyone, Notre Dame was in the championship game just eight months ago. I think they come out strong and start their shot at redemption by going big against a Carson Beck led Miami team. Carson has experienced a lot of heartbreak since moving to Miami and the trend continues in Week One.
Texas (+1) at Ohio State - Fun story here: this was a pick I made in the playoffs last year as well. It didn’t work out for me. But in Arch I Trust. I mean come on, we all know I’m a Manning homer, and even though he didn’t go to Ole Miss, I am excited to see the closest thing to Archie Manning since, well, Archie.
Northwestern at Tulane (-5.5) - I saw this line and had to scratch my head a little bit. I think Tulane truly has a chance to make a case for the playoffs this year even though my Rebels may have something to say about that in three weeks. But Jon Sumrall (shout out to the local Huntsville boy!) will have the Green Wave rolling for Week One.
Greg Bosworth
The best time of the year is upon us. We are in the midst of five straight days of college football!! Year two hopefully won’t be a dumpster fire for me 🤞🤞
Notre Dame (-2.5) at Miami- If this were the 80s or 90s, this would be the biggest game going Labor Day Weekend. Don’t worry. In 2025, this game is still intriguing and definitely has early season playoff implications. Both teams have high expectations to meet as well as new starting quarterbacks. Until Miami shows me they can win a big game, I don’t have faith in them. The Irish running game and defense will be the difference Sunday night.
Texas (ML) at Ohio State - A rematch of from last years playoff, the beginning of the Arch Manning and Julian Sayan eras, and the winner Saturday will have an early upper hand in the college football playoff race. The field will be full of future NFL players and it should be a must-watch game. That being said the Texas defense will be the difference in Columbus leaving with the slight upset.
Toledo (+10) at Kentucky - This is the type of early season game that puts the Rockets on the map as a playoff contender. The offense will be high powered and they won’t be scared of Kentucky. Stoops has lost a little of his mojo, and though they may win on Saturday, ten points seems like a lot. The offense has been lacking in Lexington, and I expect the hometown fans to be stressed out early Saturday afternoon.
Note: All games are against the spread. Odds are taken from MGM Grand Sportsbook.
