Are you ready for the first proper college football Saturday of the year? We’ve got Week 1 parlay picks to cover some of the action.
The pregame narrative: The marquee matchup of this +423 ticket features a top-10 matchup between Clemson and LSU. Out west, the Cal Golden Bears and Oregon State Beavers have the makings of a high-scoring showdown.
Check out my +423 college football parlay predictions, featuring a pick on the Albany Great Danes vs. Iowa Hawkeyes game.
College football predictions: Week 1 parlay
Parlay: Iowa -38 | Clemson ML | Cal/Oregon State over 48.5 points (+423)
Iowa -38 (-110): On Aug. 6, a video of Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski completing a fairly simple 15-yard out route garnered more than 800,000 views on Twitter.
That’s how starved the Iowa fanbase is for competent quarterback play.
Gronowski transferred in from South Dakota State (FCS), where he led the Jackrabbits to the national semifinal last year. He threw for over 10,000 yards in his career at SDSU, and there’s hope he can be the Hawkeyes’ first 3,000-yard passer since 2011.
Iowa’s defence has finished in the top 20 in adjusted EPA per play in every season since 2018, according to Game On Paper. Mix some decent quarterback play in there, and you’re laughing.
Gronowski’s Jackrabbits beat Albany (FCS) two years ago, 59-0. He had three passing TDs and 315 yards of total offence.
NCAAF parlay picks
Clemson moneyline (-190): I already backed Clemson -3.5 (-117) in a different picks piece, and this feels like the right venue to double down.
The No. 4-ranked Tigers are 29-4 at home in the past five seasons under Dabo Swinney’s tutelage. Death Valley is not where any opponent wants to be on a Saturday night.
That’s true for the No. 9 LSU Tigers, who share the same team and stadium nickname, funnily enough. But Clemson’s home-field advantage should matter this weekend.
LSU made some splashes in the transfer portal, but Clemson’s continuity should be a greater strength — especially early in the season. The host Tigers brought back 16 starters from last year’s College Football Playoff squad.
With head coach Brian Kelly at the helm, LSU is 0-3 in season openers. The Tigers were favoured in all three of those games.
Cal/Oregon State over 48.5 points (-127): I’m excited about the quarterback play in this matchup, and I think both sides can put up a bunch of points.
Oregon State will turn to transfer Maalik Murphy, who threw for 26 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards in 12 games last year. He was rated as a four-star transfer according to 247 Sports.
On the Cal side, freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele beat out former Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown for the starting job.
Sagapolutele, 247 Sports’ No. 7 quarterback in the 2025 freshman class, originally committed to Oregon. The four-star southpaw is Cal’s highest-rated QB recruit since Jared Goff — and the first true freshman QB to start the Golden Bears’ season opener since Goff.
Oregon State had a disastrous defence last year, ranking 115th of 134 schools in defensive EPA per play. Hopefully, the Beavers give Sagapolutele a soft landing in his debut.
Overs are 5-0 in the past five years when these teams met up.
College football predictions made at 12:10 p.m. on 08/26/2025.
Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.