Wake Forest vs. Purdue (Saturday – 12pm ET)
I spend a lot of time over the summer flipping through all the college football preview publications. Many of them projected Purdue as the worst team of the Power Conferences. However, the perception could create some value for us on Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette.
Wake Forest surprised last season and was able to grind to nine wins. Purdue won it’s first two games against lower level competition in 2025, but then lost to Notre Dame and all nine games in the Big Ten to finish 2-10. On the surface, these programs are headed in different directions.
Phil Steele is slightly more bullish on the Boilermakers than most this season. The Power Poll in his magazine has Purdue sitting at 65th in the country. The Demon Deacons aren’t much further ahead at 58th. Pick Six Previews points out how much Wake lost from last season’s roster without doing much to replace it. Only six starters return, while nine All-ACC performers are gone. The program did not add any four star level talent that transferred in.
Those losses showed when the Demon Deacons opened their season at home in a Thursday night game in Week 1. While the box score looks better than the final result actual was, Wake struggled at times with Akron. I’m not convinced this new roster is ready for a road trip against a Big Ten squad, even if it is Purdue.
Barry Odom knows what he’s doing as an experienced head coach. While the roster has plenty of turnover, Purdue returns its starting QB — Ryan Browne started all 12 games last season and looked good in the opener.
This might be a gross one, but the market agrees with the Boilermakers as home underdogs. While the number has come down about a point, I’ll grab the field goal with Purdue at home.
CFB Pick: Purdue +3 (-110)
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