They're hoping in Fort Collins for history to repeat itself, at least in terms of head coach Jay Norvell, who steered his Nevada team to a five-win improvement between the first and second years of his previous assignment in Reno. Norvell replicated the first part of that parlay in his debut season at Colorado State, and in retrospect three wins might not have been a bad showing considering the mess he inherited from Steve Addazio, one of the most ill-advised college football hires of the past decade. 

Left with a bare cupboard on offense, Norvell's pet Air Raid attack never got off of the tarmac. The Rams were unable to score as many as 20 points in a game all season (!) and ranked near the bottom nationally of all relevant offensive stats (including scoring, coming in at 128th with just 13.2 points per game). A gnarly defense at least kept the Rams in several games, and also helped result in an eye-opening 11-1 Under mark in CSU games last fall...

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Colorado State's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Mountain West season.

Mountain West preview: Conference winner | Air Force | Boise State | Colorado State | Fresno State | Hawaii | Nevada | New Mexico | San Diego State | San Jose State | UNLV | Utah State | Wyoming

2023 Colorado State at a glance

• Last Year: 3-9 SU, 6-6 ATS, 1-11 O/U
• Returning starters: Offense 4; Defense 7
• Win total: 5 (Over Even, Under -130)

What do you need to know about Colorado State before locking in your Mountain West futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Mountain West futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!