College Football Friday Best Bet (10/24/25)

Author: Dylan Lieck | October 24, 2025 | 5:17 A.M. CST

Best Bet: Virginia Tech -5 vs. Cal

At first glance, this line is pretty crazy. Virginia Tech comes into this game as one of the most disappointing teams in the country. A lot of people saw the Hokies has a legitimate ACC contender this season, but they got off to an abysmal start, losing their first 3 games. They hit rock bottom week 3 after getting spanked 45-26 against Old Dominion at home! Following that game, Justin Feunte (head coach of VT) was fired, and rightfully so. I have no problem throwing that game out when looking at this VT team, as they clearly quit on their head coach at that point. Since the coaching change the Hokies have gone 2-2, including an outright win as a 9 point underdog at NC State. They have dropped their last two games, but they were competitive in both, and one of those losses came on the road against undefeated #7 Georgia Tech. Cal, on the other hand, has had a surprising start to the season, coming into this matchup 5-2 and 2-1 in the ACC. That said, they have played one of the easier schedules in the country. Their 5 wins have come against Oregon State, Texas Southern, Minnesota, Boston College, and North Carolina. Minnesota is the only team Cal’s beaten in the top 75 in my power rankings. The other 4 are 4 of the worst teams in the country. Last week against a bad North Carolina team, the Golden Bears escaped with a 3 point win, only because a UNC wide receiver fumbled the ball on the one yard line, going into score in the final minute of the game. North Carolina likely wins that game by 4 if the receiver hangs onto the ball. Additionally, their only two road games this season have come against two very poorly ranked teams (SDSU and Boston College). They lost the SDSU game 34-0 and beat Boston College 28-24. Now they head into an environment on a Friday night that is much more difficult to play in than their two previous road games, Assuming the VT crowd shows up, a night game in Blacksburg is one of the more difficult places to play in college football. In addition to all of that, the overall talent gap between these two teams is quite significant. And, lastly I love the spot for VT here in a nationally televised game on a Friday night, coming off a bye. Despite the fact that Cal is 5-2 and VT is having a disastrous season, the Hokies opened as a short favorite and have been bet all the way up to 5. We’ve seen significant pro money on the Hokies pushing this number up, and that one way traffic is continuing through Friday morning. Let’s back the Hokies here, and it’s good at anything less than a touchdown,

Official Pick: Virginia Tech -5 (-110)

Play Rating: 2-Star