CFL futures: BC, Montreal among best bets for 2025 season from proven football expert

SportsLine's Emory Hunt reveals his best bets for the 2025 Canadian Football League season

By Scott Erskine

Jun 3, 2025 at 2:09 pm ET • 4 min read

The 2025 CFL season, the 67th campaign in league history, gets underway Thursday with a matchup between a pair of last year's playoff participants as the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Ottawa Redblacks. Both clubs finished the 2024 regular season with 9-8-1 records, and Saskatchewan defeated the BC Lions in the division semifinals before losing to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the division finals, while Ottawa was eliminated by the eventual Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts in the first round of the postseason.

Toronto, which went 10-8 to finish second in the East Division last year, begins the defense of its league-record 19th Grey Cup title Friday as it visits the division-winning Montreal Alouettes, who posted a 12-5-1 record. The Calgary Stampeders (2024: 5-12-1) host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-11), and the Edmonton Elks (7-11) visit the BC Lions (9-9) on Saturday, while Winnipeg—which topped the West Division last year with an 11-7 mark—plays its season opener in Week 2 at home against BC on June 12.

The Argonauts posted a 41-24 victory over Winnipeg to win the championship last season and are the favorites to capture their third title in four years at most sportsbooks with odds around +300. The Blue Bombers, who have appeared in five consecutive Grey Cup championship games—winning twice before losing the last three—fetch odds around +425 to win their 13th title while the Alouettes are listed around +440.

SportsLine football expert Emory Hunt has revealed his best bets for the 2025 CFL season, including which team wins the Grey Cup, who captures the Most Outstanding Player Award, and Over/Under bets for each club's win total.

Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007. He is a former running back for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and knows the game from a player's perspective. Hunt's dedication to analysis of all levels of professional football helped him crush the CFL, XFL, and USFL in 2023, posting a combined ATS record of 98-73 in his SportsLine articles.

Now, he has set his sights on the 2025 CFL season and has locked in his picks and predictions. Here are his best bets with analysis, followed by some of his other team and player predictions.

Best bets (odds from FanDuel)

Grey Cup winner: BC Lions (+850)

There is a lot to like about the 2025 BC Lions. What really stands out to me as strong points of the team is how good they are along both sides of the lines of scrimmage. Armed with talented pass-rushers like Matheiu Betts and Sione Teuhuma, the defense should be top three in the league. Offensively speaking, the run game led by James Butler will help make things much more stable for QB Nathan Rouke this year. Based on the roster alone, the Lions are the most balanced team in the CFL.

Most Outstanding Player: QB Vernon Adams Jr., Calgary Stampeders (+2000)

Before Adams Jr. suffered an injury last season, he was steamrolling toward the MOP with the BC Lions. His injury is what led to the Lions bringing back Nathan Rourke. A healthy Adams Jr. proved last year that he's got the goods to lead the league in passing yards and 'wow' plays. In 2024, he was playing the best ball of his career, and I expect him to build on top of this in 2025.

Receiving yards leader: Samuel Emilus, Saskatchewan Roughriders (+1400)

Emilus has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for the Roughriders and has done it in impressive fashion. He's got a knack for making the big play, which makes him the go-to guy in this Riders passing attack. Expect him to take a step toward the elite category this season by leading the league in yards.

Passing prop: Edmonton Elks QB Tre Ford Over 3,400.5 passing yards

With Ford deciding to re-sign with the Elks, it all but ensures he'll get a fair shot to be their franchise QB. We've seen flashes of that over the last two seasons. But that was mixed in between injury, inconsistency and looking over his shoulder. It's his team now, and his passing yardage total going over 3,400.5 will reflect that.

Win total: Calgary Stampeders Over 6.5 (-160)

The Stampeders were in a lot of ball games last season, and you can attribute a lot of their close losses to inadequate QB play. Well, during the offseason the Stamps added both Vernon Adams Jr. and Philip Walker. This significant upgrade is worth 2-3 wins alone. Calgary could also be a dark horse team to win the West Division as well.