Fresno State vs Kansas Prediction, Pick & Odds for CFB Week 0

• Fresno State and Kansas begin their season in CFB Week 0
• Kansas is listed as a 13.5-point favorite over Fresno State
• See below for the latest Fresno State vs Kansas odds, picks, and predictions for Saturday, August 23

College football is back! Week 0 kicks off on August 23 with five games, and in the third game of the day, Kansas hosts Fresno State in their new stadium. Kickoff is scheduled in Lawrence, KS at 6:30 pm ET.

Jalon Daniels is back and healthy for the Jayhawks, and Kansas will hope to pick up where they left off last season. They won three games in a row against Top 25 teams down the stretch in 2024, and now they open 2025 as nearly two-touchdown favorites over Fresno State.

The Bulldogs will look different in 2025. Fresno State went 6-7 last year, but they have a new head coach and quarterback heading into this season. The latest college football odds have Kansas as a 13.5-point favorite over Fresno State in Week 0.

Fresno State vs Kansas Odds

Odds as of August 22 at BetMGM. Be sure to check out BetMGM rewards before betting on CFB Week 0.

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Fresno State vs Kansas Line Movement

The lookahead line for this game this summer was Kansas -14. The O/U opened at 51.5, so the odds were not much different than where they are now. There was some movement about a week ago, when Fresno State moved to +12.5, but they are now back to +13.5.

66% of the betting handle is on Kansas to cover the spread in the latest college football public betting trends.

The Fresno State vs Kansas total has been bet down from O/U 51.5 to O/U 50.5 as we get closer to kickoff.

Fresno State Betting Outlook

Fresno State is the underdog in this game, but they have done well as big underdogs of late. The Bulldogs are 9-1 against the spread in their last ten games as underdogs of at least 12 points.

New Head Coach Matt Entz comes in from North Dakota State, where he saw a lot of success. He went 60-10 at North Dakota State and will look to bring that physicality to Fresno State.

They return their second-leading rusher from last season in Bryson Donelson. In limited work last season, Donelson averaged six yards per carry and scored three touchdowns on the ground. He also added one through the air.

He will be a focal point in Fresno State’s offense this season under Entz, who loves to establish the run. The Bulldogs also have a new quarterback in EJ Warner, who is the son of Kurt Warner. Last year at Rice, Warner threw for 2,710 yards and 17 touchdowns. He had 13 interceptions in 2024.

The defense is where Fresno State will thrive in 2025. They return a lot of talent, and in 2024, they allowed just 4.7 yards per play, which was good for the 11th-best in the nation. They were also top 12 in the country in passing defense, so they have the ability to make things difficult on opposing offenses.

Kansas Betting Outlook

Kansas has a lot of excitement heading into 2025. Not only is their quarterback, Jalon Daniels, healthy, but they actually get to play home games this year. Renovations for phase one of the stadium are complete, so the Jayhawks will not have to play their home games at Arrowhead this season.

Their success this season depends on Daniels and his ability to stay healthy. Last year was a down year, finishing at 5-7, but they battled injuries and traveling to Kansas City for home games.

Daniels’s return shot some life into Kansas towards the end of last year when they rattled off three straight wins against Top 25 teams. They upset No. 15 Iowa State 45-36, beat #13 BYU on the road 17-13, and defeated #25 Colorado 37-21. The Jayhawks will look to capitalize on that this upcoming season. Daniels threw for 2,454 yards in 2024 and rushed for 447 yards. He was responsible for 20 touchdowns last year.

Similar to many Big 12 teams, Kansas struggles on defense and was 105th in the country in passing yards allowed per game.

Fresno State vs Kansas Prediction

Kansas may have the best player on the field in Jalon Daniels, but I predict that Fresno State will keep this game close. While Fresno State has been good as a large underdog, Kansas has struggled in these spots. Kansas went 0-3 against the spread against non-conference opponents in 2024.

I trust Fresno State’s defense with Entz coming in from North Dakota State. While the FBS is different than the FCS, his success at North Dakota State cannot be understated. Even when Kansas’s offense was humming last year, their passing attack was not consistent. The Bulldogs have a good front seven and a good secondary that could limit Kansas’s ability to move the ball.

The Bulldogs are going to run the ball over and over in this game and try to outphysical Kansas’s defense. I believe they have a good opportunity to do that against this defense. Warner is a talented enough quarterback to make the throws needed to keep this game close.

Donelson will be the one who gets the major workload in this game, so I like for him to have at least 80 rushing yards in this game. He hit this number in two of his last three games last year. Entz will try to make a statement in this game, and that will come from a strong rushing attack.

With Fresno State’s defense and run game, I expect the clock to be running continuously in this game, so I agree with the line movement and am also picking the under to hit. Week 0 games can be sloppy offensively, and this one will be no different.

Fresno State vs Kansas Picks:

• Fresno State +13.5 (-105)
• Under 50.5 (-115)
• Bryson Donelson Over 73.5 Rushing Yards (-115)