Nebraska vs. No. 22 Colorado college football odds, trends: Big action on Deion Sanders' Buffaloes for Saturday's home opener
Bettors again are flocking to bet Colorado in Week 2.
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The biggest overall loss for sportsbooks in Week 1 of the 2023 college football season hit when unranked Colorado went to No. 17 TCU as a three-touchdown underdog and won 45-42 in the FBS head coaching debut of Deion Sanders to snap the school's 27-game road losing streak vs. ranked teams. If you thought Colorado was taking a lot of action last week, you won't believe the money currently flowing in for Saturday's home opener against former Big 12 rival Nebraska. The game opened as a pick'em on the SportsLine consensus, but is now Buffaloes -3.
All sportsbooks are different, but offshore book BetOnline is speculating that Saturday's game might be the most-wagered college football regular-season matchup in the history of that site and there is more cash on Colorado than the spreads for all 32 NFL teams. That site now gives Colorado a -120 shot at reaching a bowl game, even though it currently projects the Buffs to be favored in just three more games: -17.5 next Saturday vs. Colorado State, -5 at Arizona State on Oct. 7, and -8 vs. Arizona on Nov. 11.
Oddsmakers have adjusted the line on Colorado's win total from 3.5 at the beginning of the season to 5.5 -- a half-win shy of bowl eligibility.
Per BetMGM, there more bets on this game than 14 Week 1 NFL matchups. Colorado is taking a lean of more than 80%. Before the opener, Sanders' club was +25000 to win the national title and is now down to +15000, and BetMGM is by far the most exposed on Colorado for that prop. To win the Pac-12 in their final season in the conference, the Buffs dropped from +10000 to +1500, and 54% of the money is on CU to win the conference.
The Buffs moved into the AP Top 25 in the new poll. The team is ranked for the first time since a brief stay during the 2020 season. The Buffs were also ranked for two weeks in 2018, but have only finished a season in the Top 25 once (2016) in the past 20 seasons.
Sanders now has two legit Heisman candidates in his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, who looks a lot like a young Sanders in many respects. Both followed Coach Prime from Jackson State and both got major odds boosts after Week 1 at DraftKings.
Shedeur (+2800 for Heisman) threw for a school-record 510 yards to go with four touchdown passes vs. TCU en route to being named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. Hunter (+2500) had a spectacular interception and caught 11 passes for 119 yards. He'll be a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if he stays healthy. The only defensive player to win the Heisman was Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997, and he played a bit of offense that tear.
It will be madhouse in Boulder for Deion's home debut as the school kicks off the 100th year of play at Folsom Field. The Buffs were 1-5 at home in 2022. Among FBS schools, only Northwestern was worse at home (0-6).
Nebraska played well in Matt Rhule's Cornhuskers coaching debut last week at Minnesota, especially on defense, but lost 13-10 on a field goal as time expired. Nebraska has now lost 14 one-possession games since 2021, most in the FBS.
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