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Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes took the college football world by storm last September.
The Buffs raced out to a 3-0 start, hosted College GameDay and created more bulletin board material in a month than most programs generate in a decade.
Then the bottom fell out.
Colorado limped to the finish line with a chaotic 1-8 skid, but that hasn’t stopped the hype train from leaving the Flatirons in Coach Prime’s second season in Boulder.
So how should bettors go about attacking the most polarizing team in America?
Let’s take a look at the Buffs’ first five games (total in parentheses, asterisk denotes projected line).
Week 1: vs. North Dakota State -8.5 (58.5)
This opener is all about pace.
Last season, Colorado averaged 75 offensive snaps per game with coordinator Sean Lewis calling plays.
That made them a top-15 team in terms of tempo.
But in early November, Sanders swapped Lewis out for Pat Shurmur, who slowed things way down.
In an attempt to protect the team’s leaky defense and battered quarterback, Shurmur shaved 17 plays off the previous average.
Despite a change at head coach, NDSU has the same rugged identity.
The Bison control the ball (sixth in possession time) by running it and rely on a deep backfield headlined by a poor man’s Taysom Hill (Cole Payton) to shrink this game down.
The Under is the play here.
Week 2: at Nebraska +6.5 (56.5)
Revenge will be a theme for Nebraska in this one.
The Cornhuskers lost three fumbles and couldn’t get competent quarterback play out of Jeff Sims in a 36-14 loss at Colorado last year.
Things should be different under the lights at Memorial Stadium this season.
Quarterback Dylan Raiola is expected to give Nebraska’s offense pop and the defense, which ranks ninth in returning production, should tee off on Shedeur Sanders. I’ll lay the points with Nebraska.
Week 3: at Colorado State -7.5 (67*)
Revenge Part Deux, Fort Collins edition.
Expect major fireworks in the Rocky Mountain Showdown.
Both of the starting quarterbacks flashed last year, especially in this rivalry game.
The Rams and Buffs combined for 745 passing yards and eight passing touchdowns in an overtime thriller won by the Buffs.
Sanders’ 27-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio gets plenty of love, but don’t sleep on CSU’s Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, who threw for more than 300 yards with multiple touchdowns on five occasions last season. If the total comes in below 70, hammer the Over.
Week 4: vs. Baylor -6.5* (59.5*)
Baylor’s Dave Aranda is near the top of most lists of college coaches to be fired first, and this is the kind of game that could seal his fate early.
The Bears gave up 43 passing plays of 20-plus yards last season (87th) and could not get to the quarterback (118th in sacks).
Making matters worse, Baylor’s defense was a sieve on the road, allowing 41 points per game away from Waco.
This will be a CU rout and a stat-padder for Sheduer’s and Travis Hunter’s Heisman campaigns. Lay the points with CU.
Betting on College Football?
Week 5: at Central Florida +5* (55.5*)
Colorado’s starting 22 is good enough to compete with any team in the Big 12, but this isn’t EA Sports College Football 25.
Fatigue and injuries have taken a toll on both lines and that’s a problem against a physical team like UCF.
When the ball is in the air, the advantage goes to the Knights, who led the Big 12 in pass defense last season.
They added intriguing pieces in the portal on defense as well.
They should bully Colorado in the run game and use the Bounce House home-field advantage to cover this number.
