Handicapping honors: Unveiling the 2025 College Football Betting Awards

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day watches his team during an NCAA college football game against Texas , Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. Photo by:

The 2025 season marks the 11th year of our annual College Football Betting Awards, and the competition for teams to stand out in sportsbooks has never been more fierce.

The top level of the sport, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), expanded to include a record 136 teams. Betting volume continues to increase too with the expansion of legalized betting across most of the country, helping to sharpen the market and therefore cut down the outliers from a gambling perspective. But these six teams still managed to separate from the pack in our established categories over the course of the regular season. 

Team of the Year: Ohio State Buckeyes (team with the nation’s best against the spread record)

It’s rare that the defending national champion and longtime No. 1 team in the nation also dominates the betting line but that’s the trifecta the Buckeyes pulled off this season. Ohio State finished 11-1 against the spread during the regular season, edging Texas Tech, North Texas and Utah State at 10-2. The Buckeyes held the nation’s longest against the spread win streak dating back to last season with 12 straight covers into Week 11. It only ended when Purdue scored a touchdown inside the final two minutes to sneak within a 28-point spread in a 34-10 loss. Put it all together, and Ohio State is on one of the most profitable stretches in college football history. 

• Last year’s winner: Marshall

Achievement Award: Kennesaw State Owls (team that furthest eclipsed its over/under preseason win total)

Kennesaw State fired longtime coach Brian Bohanon last season just one year into the program’s move up to FBS, with eyes on then-Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach Jerry Mack taking over. It was a controversial move at the time but looks like a stroke of genius in hindsight. The Owls notched a surprise Conference USA Championship game berth in Mack’s first year by finishing with a 9-3 regular-season record. The Owls’ preseason win total was over/under 3.5. New Mexico technically tied Kennesaw State by also going 9-3 with a preseason over/under of 3.5 wins, but the latter eclipsed the number one week sooner to score a tiebreaker.

• Last year’s winner: Arizona State

Covering Streak of Excellence: North Texas Mean Green (team with the longest current winning streak against the spread)

The Mean Green entered the American Athletic Conference Championship Game having covered six straight games in grand fashion. They nearly doubled their betting-market expectation on a weekly basis, being favored by an average of 15.5 points per game during the stretch but winning by an average of 29 points per game. Freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker emerged as one of the most prolific passers in the sport and could create a bidding war from major programs in the transfer portal this offseason. Coach Eric Morris is officially on the move, as he accepted the head-coaching job at Oklahoma State reportedly over at least one other offer.

• Last year’s winner: Notre Dame

Bettors’ Choice: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (team that made the most money for gamblers through point-spread victories)

Notre Dame’s final 7-4-1 against the spread record might look somewhat ordinary, but that’s the program’s mark against closing numbers. The Irish took so much money ahead of almost every game that they covered three additional games for those who bet them earlier in the week and were actually more like 9-3 versus the number depending on timing. Notre Dame turned into one of the, if not the single, most dominant team in the country after a pair of losses to start the season to Miami and Texas A&M. Bettors caught on to the Irish’s ascent much quicker than bookies and made out financially because of it.

• Last year’s winner: Indiana

Bookmakers’ Choice: BYU Cougars (team that made the most money for the house through point-spread victories) 

Speaking of line moves, action rushed in against BYU almost every week. It didn’t matter; the Cougars continued to cover anyway. They finished 11-1 straight-up, 9-3 against the spread with wins and covers in six of their final seven games. Not too shabby for a team whose win total spiraled from as high to over/under 8.5 wins to as low as over/under 6 wins after last year’s quarterback Jake Retzlaff left the program shortly before the season. Bettors seemed to be more skeptical of freshman fill-in Bear Bachmeier, but they paid the price especially as the dual-threat quarterback improved down the stretch of the season.

• Last year’s winner: South Carolina

Underdog of the Year: Houston Cougars (team that performed the best with the odds stacked against it)

Houston won its last four games as an underdog over the second half of the season outright—beating Baylor, UCF, Arizona State and Arizona. The Cougars did get blown out 35-11 to Texas Tech as 11.5-point underdogs in Week 6, but their 4-1 straight-up and against the spread record as an underdog was enough to take this category amid a shortage of flawless contenders. Group of Five conference teams Troy and Jacksonville State also pulled off four outright upsets apiece, but the latter lost two others while taking points. Houston’s Big 12 schedule was significantly more challenging than Troy’s Sun Belt slate to earn the narrow nod.

• Last year’s winner: Vanderbilt

This story originally appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.