With the rise in popularity of sports gambling, sportsbooks have become some of the most influential voices in the sports world. In regard to college football, their preseason win total projections can give an idea of where teams stand and their expectations for the season.
Several programs are entering the 2025 college football season with high hopes, but not everyone will live up to the hype. Here are four college football teams with win totals that are too high for the 2025 season.
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Syracuse Orange (5.5)
Syracuse had one of the best seasons in program history last year and that was in large part due to one player. Well, Kyle McCord is now gone and will not be able to carry this team to several wins like he did last season. Replacing him will be one of two transfers, Steve Angeli or Rickie Collins, both of whom lack significant in-game experience.
In addition to losing McCord, several other key players transferred out to bigger programs, putting the Orange near the bottom among Power conference schools in terms of returning production.
Their schedule includes several games that would be very surprising wins against Tennessee and Notre Dame in the non-conference, along with having to face Clemson, SMU, Georgia Tech, and Miami (FL) in the ACC slate. With the loss of production and looking at their schedule, it just feels impossible to find six wins for Syracuse in 2025.
Auburn Tigers (7.5)
Count me in on the opposite side of all the Auburn preseason hype. Since Hugh Freeze arrived at Auburn, most of the buzz and chatter surrounding the program has been negative, and I do not see that changing much this season.
Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. are dangerous weapons on the outside, but I remain questionable about the quarterback situation. Jackson Arnold was brought in to lead the offense, and we saw him struggle in the SEC and at one point get benched, just last season.
While the Tigers do face one of the softer conference schedules in the SEC, I would consider many of those games toss-ups, which are the kind of games we have seen Hugh Freeze lose a plenty of at Auburn.
Miami (FL) Hurricanes (9.5)
This number originally opened at 8.5, which many already thought was high, but it has since risen to 9.5 projected wins for the Canes. Similar to the previously discussed Syracuse situation, Cam Ward plugged a lot of holes for this team last season and single-handedly won several games.
Now Carson Beck, coming off a serious injury and a very inconsistent season, takes over the reins. I am a fan of Corey Hetherman taking over as defensive coordinator to fix what was an abysmal defense last year, but I do not see that side of the ball being fully fixed in one season.
Miami also faces a challenging non-conference schedule with games against Notre Dame and Florida. With this they could easily start the year 2-2, meaning they would have to win out to get over this number. I still think the Canes have a solid season, but double digit wins feels highly unlikely.
Wisconsin Badgers (5.5)
Luke Fickell’s tenure in Madison has been known for disappointment, and 2025 could bring more of the same. A brutal schedule certainly does not play in the Badgers favor as they will take on three of the top four favorites in the Big Ten (Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan) and travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama in the non-conference. Even the season opener against Miami (OH) should not be considered a guaranteed win, given how the Badgers have looked early in the year in recent seasons.
Wisconsin did bring in Billy Edwards Jr. at quarterback, but I question how much of an upgrade he really is at the position. They also added a top transfer portal class in the Big Ten, but with their schedule, it’s hard to imagine this team winning many games. This could very well be the year the wheels completely fall off for Fickell in Madison, possibly highlighted by Wisconsin missing a bowl game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1991-1992.