Week 10 of the 2025 college football season rolls on with Thursday and Friday action. Welcome to our CFB Best Bets as we break down CFB picks for this week’s games. Let’s focus on two matchups for our CFB predictions. Plus, check out more college football bets below. 

We’ll kick things off on Thursday night with an American Athletic Conference matchup between Tulane and UTSA. Plus, North Carolina takes on Syracuse in an ACC showdown on Friday night. All bets below are for one unit unless otherwise noted. All odds and lines are accurate as of this writing, but subject to change. Without further ado, let’s dive into our CFB Best Bets. 

 

 

 

CFB Picks, Predictions & Best Bets: Thursday, 10/30

Thursday’s Week 10 slate features a pair of games. Let’s focus on one of those as UTSA hosts Tulane in the AAC. Tulane enters as the 4.5-point favorite on the road, with a 55.5 over/under. Let’s break it down to begin our CFB picks. 

Tulane vs. UTSA Prediction: Thursday, October 30th

Tulane is 6-1 on the season, and 3-0 in conference play, as one of the top Group of 5 teams in the country. The Green Wave have a real shot at the G5’s CFB Playoff bid if they keep the wins coming. Meanwhile, UTSA is having an up-and-down season with a 3-4 record and 1-2 in the AAC. Let’s back the road favorites in this game. 

Tulane owns a few notable edges in the matchup, starting on offense. UTSA has a bottom-tier pass defense that can be exploited. The Roadrunners rank 110th nationally in passing yards allowed per game and 121st in opposing QB rating. They’re also 125th in EPA/Pass defensively. 

UTSA’s struggles on defense were very evident against North Texas last game. The unit gave up 584 total yards of offense, including 314 yards through the air, en route to a 55-17 blowout loss. North Texas has a comparable offense to Tulane’s, so a similar result could be coming. 

The Green Wave passing attack ranks 40th in the country in EPA/Pass and 42nd in success rate this year. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff is playing well lately. Over the past two games, he’s thrown for 347 and 261 yards while completing 73.8% of his passes. Retzlaff’s dual-threat upside is also a difference-maker, as he’s racked up 8 rush TDs and 450 rushing yards this season. 

Outside of a dud effort on the road against Ole Miss, which is understandable, the Tulane offense has been efficient this year. In their five other previous games, the Green Wave are averaging 29.6 PPG. They can keep it going against UTSA’s inconsistent defense. 

On the other side, UTSA will struggle to keep pace offensively. The Roadrunners boast a strong running game, ranking 40th in the FBS in rush yards per game and 13th in yards per carry. However, the passing attack is much worse. They’re 98th in pass yards per game and 91st in EPA/Pass. The run-centric offense could be an issue in this week’s matchup. 

Tulane’s rush defense is holding opponents to 3.37 yards per carry in conference play so far. That includes a tough test against Army’s triple-option scheme, too. The Green Wave defense is strong vs. the pass as well. They rank 28th nationally in EPA/Pass defensively and 48th in opposing QB rating against FBS opponents. 

Admittedly, it is a potential lookahead spot for Tulane with a massive conference matchup vs. Memphis on deck next week. However, the Green Wave should still take care of business. Notably, they’ve been great as road favorites in recent seasons, going 11-3 ATS in the role over the past four years. 

 

 

CFB Picks, Predictions & Best Bets: Friday, 10/31

Let’s turn our attention to Friday’s slate for our CFB best bets. Syracuse hosts North Carolina in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup. The Orange are 2.5-point home favorites, with a 45.5 over/under in the game. Time to dive into more CFB predictions.

North Carolina vs. Syracuse Prediction: Friday, October 31st

North Carolina has played in a ton of low-scoring games this season. The Tar Heels’ offense has underwhelmed and underperformed all year. Meanwhile, Bill Belichick’s defense is playing hard and trending up in recent weeks. 

A subpar offense and an above-average defense create the recipe for lower-scoring contests. In turn, the under is 5-2 in North Carolina’s games so far. Plus, its last 5 games have seen an average of just 38.8 combined points scored per game. Count on this trend continuing on the road at Syracuse this week. 

Back to UNC’s struggling offense. Against FBS competition this year, the Heels rank 132nd in the country in total yards per game and 129th in points per game (14.5). Plus, the offense is 129th nationally in EPA/Play and 122nd in success rate. There are issues in both the rushing and passing games that won’t be fixed overnight. 

Syracuse is, by no means, good on defense this year. The Orange are giving up 31.3 PPG (116th in FBS) and have allowed 30+ points in 4 straight games coming into this one. However, UNC doesn’t have the offensive firepower to take advantage of the soft matchup, especially on the road. The Tar Heels have scored 18, 9, and 20 points in their road games thus far. 

Meanwhile, North Carolina’s defense should at least keep the Orange offense in check. UNC ranks 50th in the FBS in total defense and 34th in yards allowed per play. In addition, the unit is 44th in EPA/Play and 51st in success rate defensively. 

The Tar Heels may be bad on offense, but the defense comes to play. They’re especially tough against the run, too, ranking 25th nationally in rushing yards allowed per game and 17th in yards allowed per carry. 

It’s not ideal for a Syracuse offense that’s been struggling ever since starting quarterback Steve Angeli went down for the year. In the four games since, the Orange are averaging only 13 PPG with fewer than 20 points in each. Current QB Rickie Collins has more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (6) this season, and the run game is 116th in the country in rush yards per game. 

 

 

 

Best CFB Prop Bets & Other Picks for Thursday & Friday, Week 10

Â