College Football Picks for Thursday and Friday: Colorado vs. Houston & More

During last week’s slate of games, my picks went 5-4, and my leans went 2-1, so overall, it was a pretty solid slate of picks, but definitely some room for improvement. Still, it was another week in the green, so you can’t ask for much more through two full weeks of picks.

The pre-weekend slate is much better this week, with a few games worth watching on both Thursday and Friday. No matter what, it’s always great to have more football at any time, so here are some picks for the pre-Saturday games.

NC State (2-0) -7.5 @ Wake Forest (2-0)

Currently, the Demon Deacons are undefeated, but looking ahead at their schedule, there’s a real possibility they don’t win another game until the end of November with a matchup with Delaware. They’re one of the worst Power Four teams in the country, and on the other hand, NC State might actually be a decent bit better than expected.

Behind a monstrous running performance of Hollywood Smothers (elite name), the Wolfpack were able to get a last-second touchdown to steal the rare non-conference game against someone in your conference. These two teams never end up facing each other in ACC play, so they schedule this one as an out-of-conference matchup for those confused.

Wake Forest should’ve lost to a terrible Kennesaw State team, and if they had any ability to pass the ball, they would have. Smothers will be able to run all over Wake Forest, and quarterback CJ Bailey should do enough to at least keep Wake’s defense honest in the pass game. This is one of the last chances this year to get a Wake Forest spread in the single digits, as I expect many blowouts in their future.

Pick: NC State (-7.5)
Lean: Over 51.5

Colorado (1-1) @ Houston (2-0) -4.5

Total: 44.5

Coming into this week, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders announced that the walk-on quarterback Ryan Staub will be the starter as they head down to Houston. Staub is quite the shocking choice for Colorado, as most expected this to be a two-horse race between Kaidon Slater, the Liberty transfer, and Julian Lewis, one of the top prospects in this past recruiting class.

Staub now has a chance to start figuring things out and provide a much-needed steady hand in the passing game for Colorado as they try to figure out life without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter.

The good news for Staub is that Houston is one of the worst teams in the Big 12 this year, one of the few teams that I don’t expect to compete for a bowl game.

This line makes no sense to me. There are a lot of question marks for Colorado coming off a game against a weak Delaware team, where they gave up five sacks and struggled to run the ball. This shows how little faith I have in Houston.

Conor Weigman was one of my least favorite players in the country at Texas A&M, and not much has changed as he flipped schools in-state. This Colorado defense is a bit underrated, and I think they’re going to really speed up the game for Houston.

However, I expect both offenses to struggle, especially since Colorado will be playing away from their big crowds in Boulder. Houston being a favorite in this one just confuses me so I’m not willing to take them as an official pick, but I like them to keep it close, so I don’t mind taking the points there.

Pick: Under 44.5
Lean: Colorado +4.5

Kansas State (1-2) -1.5 @ Arizona (2-0)

Total: 54.5

Last year was a disaster for first-year head coach Brent Brennan at Arizona. He struggled to use an intriguing quarterback prospect in Noah Fifita and wasn’t able to be successful with first-round pick Tet McMillan as well.

This year feels different for Arizona. The defense has taken massive steps forward, and Noah Fifita looks more like the 2023 version of himself that won 11 games and helped Jedd Fisch land a job at Washington.

Then, with Kansas State, are they actually really bad? Is the losing in Dublin curse coming for them next?

I am thoroughly unimpressed with Chris Klieman as a coach, and I don’t think he knows how to use Avery Johnson. He’s not a pure pocket passer, and until he shows he’s willing to use him more in the running game, I’m going to be fading Kansas State, especially when they’re a road favorite.

Arizona is my favorite play for the midweek games, and don’t be shocked if this goes over as well. Arizona’s defensive improvements scare me enough not to make this an official pick, but they might score enough to get to 54.5 on their own.

Pick: Arizona (+1.5)
Lean: Over 54.5

2025 Record

Picks: 9-6
Leans: 3-4