College Football Best Bets (September 3): Colorado vs. Georgia Tech, UAB vs. Illinois Odds & Predictions

College football’s soft start continues tonight with 11-games scheduled to take place. Deciding which one(s) to bet on without having seen any of them play yet can be challenging. But that’s what my College Football Best Bets picks are here for.

After careful consideration of the matchups and odds, I’ve settled on two games: Colorado vs. Georgia Tech and UAB vs. Illinois.

(Photo by Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)

College Football Odds & Best Bets for September 3

But before I preview each game and make my picks, let’s take a look at the odds for each.

Colorado vs. Georgia Tech (FanDuel)

• Spread: Colorado +6.5 (-106) | Georgia Tech -6.5 (-114)
• Moneyline: Colorado +205 | Georgia Tech -255
• Total: O/U 51.5 (-112/-108)

UAB vs. Illinois (bet365)

• Spread: UAB +27.5 (-110) | Illinois -27.5 (-110)
• Moneyline: UAB +1600 | Illinois -5000
• Total: O/U 54.5 (-115/-105)

Deion Sanders has yet to have the kind of success he had at Jackson State with Colorado. In his three seasons as the head coach of the Buffaloes, Colorado has gone 16-21 (4-8, 9-4, 3-8). Georgia Tech was favored by 3.5-points against the Buffs in last season’s opener at Folson Field in Boulder, Colorado.

The Yellow Jackets pulled out a 27-20 win in a competitive game.

As for UAB and Illinois, this will be the first time that the two programs have faced off in a football game. The giant scoreboard may get a lot of attention (17,000 square feet and almost 70 feet high by 250 feet wide; the biggest in college football). But UAB will not go down without a fight.

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Colorado vs. Georgia Tech

Hiring Deion Sanders has certainly helped put a spotlight on Colorado football. But with the exception of the 9-4 season in 2024, it hasn’t paid off. He’s had some quality offensive play in the past, but last year’s squad was uninspiring on both sides of the ball (20.4 points per game, No. 114; 30.5 points per game allowed, No. 111).

But the good thing about having someone like Sanders as the head coach, attracting talent is not a problem. The offensive line is rebuilt via the portal and will need to do a better job of protecting Julian Lewis. If it can, with the talent the Buffaloes (4-8 in 2025) have at wide receiver, this offense could be special.

Danny Scudero caught 88 passes for 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns last season for San Jose State. They also stole an underutilized DeAndre Moore (38 receptions for 582 yards and four touchdowns) from Texas.

A defense that allowed over 30 points per game last season has nowhere to go but up. With pretty much a new defense with no starters back, it may not be as hard to shake off last year’s dismal performance since this group wasn’t responsible for it.

To be fair, Georgia Tech (9-4 in 2025) will have a number of new starters on both sides of the ball as well, just not as many as Colorado. It got Alberto Mendoza from Indiana to replace Haynes King. Former Michigan running back Justice Hayes will join him in the backfield behind an offensive line with three new starters.

As for the defense, a veteran linebacker corps will lead the way, but it will be interesting to see what kind of damage a revamped front four courtesy of the portal, i.e., Jordan Walker (Rutgers),  Taje McCoy (Oklahoma State), Tawfiq Thomas (Colorado), and Noah Adams (Alabama), can do.

My Pick: Georgia Tech -6.5 (-114, FanDuel)

If you’ve seen any of the videos of Neon Deion Sanders talking to his players, it is hard not to pull for the Buffs. But Colorado is in way too much of a rebuild mode to expect it to compete with a solid team like Georgia Tech in Week 1. Chances are good that the Buffs will have 35-40 new players on their 2-deep depth chart entering the season.

No matter how talented a group is on paper, it takes time and experience to get that many new players on the same page.

Georgia Tech’s defensive front is not going to allow Colorado’s rebuilt offensive line to have that time. The Buffs' defense may be decent in time, but it won't be ready to take on Justice Hayes and Alberto Mendoza. The game may be close in the first half, but look for the Yellow Jackets to pull away in the second half.

UAB vs. Illinois

“Rebuild” is essentially the word of the day for both programs as UAB (4-8 in 2025) has just two starters returning from last year’s squad and Illinois has seven. It is not just the roster that is being rebuilt for UAB. The team is also breaking in a new head coach, Alex Mortensen. He got a trial run last year when Trent Dilfer was let go mid-season. The former offensive coordinator led the team to a 2-4 record with Dilfer’s team.

But he’ll get to show what he can do with his own team this year. Of course, with so many holes to fill, he hit the transfer portal hard. It was necessary as the team needed new starters for both sides of the ball and some depth. He did find some promising talents: running back Rod Robinson (Georgia), edge rusher Marlin Dean (Georgia State), and defensive tackle Sterling Sanders (Boston College).

The perk of an almost complete rebuild is that this is not the same team that struggled with turnovers (22). Nor is it the one that allowed 38.3 points per game (No. 133 in the country).

Illinois (9-4 in 2025) is in a bit of a rebuild as well. But with seven starters back and an established head coach in Brett Bielema, it’s not as severe a rebuild as UAB's. As a team coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons, the Illini were likely viewed as a favorable destination by many players in the portal.

Bielema hit the portal to rebuild his offensive line and find his new quarterback, Katin Houser (East Carolina). He’s not a great passer. But Illinois projects to be more of a run team with Ca’Lil Valentine and Aidan Laughery back.

My Pick: Illinois -27.5 (-110, bet365)

I get nervous about giant spreads like this one. It is hard to know when, or if, a team will take its foot off the gas in the season opener. But UAB simply has way too much to work through. I’m not convinced it has the means to do so. Todd Grantham is a solid coach and will get the most out of his defense. But there will be plenty of kinks to work out in a unit that is mostly new starters.

As for the offense, Mortensen does not have much experience as a coach. It would be tough for an experienced coach to undergo such a massive rebuild and get the team ready to play by Week 1. If it was facing an FCS opponent, I might have hope for it. But Illinois is a solid mid-tier power in the Big Ten.

The Illini will have their own kinks to work through with a rebuilt offensive line, new quarterback, and an essentially new front seven on defense. However, the talent level on the roster is better, as is the coaching. Illinois may not look pretty, either. But the Fighting Illini will dominate this game.