There was no college football team that generated more public betting interest early in the 2023-24 season like the Colorado Buffaloes. Deion Sanders came in, brought in almost an entirely new roster via the transfer portal and proceeded to beat No. 17 TCU 45-42 as a 21-point underdog and cash some huge tickets on the moneyline for bettors.
Unfortunately, Colorado lost seven of its eight final games behind a porous offensive line and defense, along with an unfortunate injury that sidelined star WR/CB Travis Hunter for several games.
With another college football season kicking off, the public is still betting Colorado in droves in multiple markets – even if it isn’t quite up to last year’s standards.
The Buffs open the season on Thursday night against North Dakota State and have been bet up to 10-point home favorites at some sportsbooks. At DraftKings Sportsbook, 70% of the wagers and 70% of total dollars wagered are on Colorado -9.5, while at BetMGM the Buffs are the most-bet side this week.
“This game opened way back at -7.5 this summer, we took a lot more Colorado money at -8.5 and -9.5, and now we’re up to -10,” Seamus Magee, BetMGM trader, told Odds Shark. “Tons of Colorado ML wagers coming in and they’re in everyone’s parlays. For now, it’s the most-bet game of the week.”
To Magee’s point, 90% of the moneyline wagers at DraftKings on the game are on Colorado.
Even though the Buffs are moving to the Big 12 this season and have long-shot odds of 25-1 to win the conference, Colorado has the most tickets and dollars wagered at BetMGM to win the wide-open conference, including a $10,000 bet at 25-1 odds from a BetMGM bettor.
As one oddsmaker told Odds Shark, Colorado is unique in that no other team in the same odds range to win the College Football Playoff or conference gets as much media attention. The Buffs’ win total of 5.5 has been a popular one for bettors, with strong opinions on both sides.
“To put the win total in perspective, the under on Colorado wins is the most bet under win total we have, but Colorado cashing the over is still our biggest liability as a win total,” Magee said.
Colorado also (18:1) represents the biggest liability at BetMGM for any team to make the College Football Playoff and the biggest liability to win the CFP (150:1) as well at the sportsbook. Colorado had the most wagers to win the CFP at BetMGM for most of the summer, before being overtaken in ticket count in the past few weeks by Ohio State.
With the College Football Playoff expanding from four teams to 12, Sanders’ squad certainly has more of an opportunity than it had last year to shock the world, but it will be a tall task in a much tougher conference.
A win against North Dakota State would be a good start.
