The 2025 UFL season kicks off on Friday, with the Houston Roughnecks hosting the St. Louis Battlehawks. In the inaugural United Football League season, the Roughnecks lumbered to the worst record in the league (1-9), while St. Louis won its conference at 7-3. The Battlehawks prevailed 22-8 in the teams’ lone matchup last season, but both teams have had a number of personnel changes since then, including new starting quarterbacks.

Kickoff is at 8 p.m. ET from TDECU Stadium in Houston. St. Louis is favored by 6 points in the latest Roughnecks vs. Battlehawks odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 37.5. St. Louis is -285 on the money line. Before you make any Battlehawks vs. Roughnecks picks, you NEED to see what SportsLine expert Emory Hunt has to say.

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. Anybody following could have seen HUGE returns!

Hunt knows St. Louis had the league’s second-best record last year and won the XFL conference. No team scored more touchdowns than the Battlehawks’ 31 trips to the endzone, as they ranked second in both scoring offense and point differential. Additionally, St. Louis was dominant in the matchup versus Houston last year, as the eight points it held the Roughnecks to were the fewest they scored all season.

He also knows that Houston has clear strengths, with most of those coming on the defensive side of the ball. The Roughnecks tied for the UFL lead with 15 takeaways last season, and they also had the league’s third-best run defense. Also, Houston won’t be facing the same St. Louis offense which lit up the scoreboard last season, as QB A.J. McCarron, who tied for second in the UFL with 15 passing touchdowns in 2024, is no longer on the team.

Hunt is going Over on the total. He’s also found a critical x-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread! 

Who wins Battlehawks vs. Roughnecks, and what critical x-factor has Hunt jumping on one side of the spread? … Join SportsLine right now to find out, all from an expert who went a combined 98-73 on his XFL, USFL and CFL picks in 2023!