UPDATE — While seemingly the whole country was pounding Coach Deion Sanders's Colorado Buffaloes to cover the 23.5-point spread over Colorado State, Yardbarker's own Jack Dougherty was advising that it was time to fade the Buffs, and instead back head coach Jay Norvell's Colorado State Rams.
Colorado might have hung on in double overtime for a 43-35 victory, but a lot of folks lost backing the Buffs to cover. Below is Jack's original report from Friday.
Another week of college football is upon us, which means hundreds of thousands of Americans are once again lining up at the window to hammer Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes.
The Buffs attracted the most bets and the most money in college football in each of their first two games of the season, and it's the same story this week. According to John Ewing of BetMGM, there are more spread bets on Colorado-Colorado State than any remaining NFL game this week. Oh, and 93 percent of the money is on Colorado to cover the 24-point spread.
The only word to describe how we arrived at this spread is "fascinating." Just a few weeks ago, this number was -10 on the look-ahead line. Then, Colorado upset TCU as 21-point underdogs in Week 1, proving Sanders needed just one offseason to build a competitive program. A week later, the Buffaloes crushed Nebraska as one of the most public three-point favorites in college football history.
Colorado opened at -20.5 against Colorado State the morning after its 36-14 win against Nebraska. As money continued to pour in throughout the week, the Buffaloes inched up to 21, then 22, then 23. Then, CSU head coach Jay Norvell decided to poke the bear by taking a shot at Prime.
"When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me," Norvell said during his weekly radio hit, alluding to Sanders' wardrobe choices while speaking to the media. Of course, Sanders caught wind of the ricochet shot from Norvell. A viral video quickly emerged of Coach Prime calling the game "personal" in a speech to his players at practice. Shedeur Sanders, Deion's son and the starting quarterback for the Buffs, also appeared on ESPN's First Take and gave his thoughts on the matter.
"You gotta be a fool to do that ... It's just extra motivation," he said.
And that, my friends, is how a 10-point spread skyrockets to -24 in three short weeks.
Unfortunately for Colorado backers (and there are many), "motivation" and "revenge" don't decide football games. Sportsbooks have no problem inflating this line because they know casual bettors are going to hammer the Buffs no matter what the number is. This spread isn't even close to the true difference between these two teams on the field, so if you aren't afraid of jumping in front of the bandwagon, join me in fading the public this week.
The bet to make: Colorado State +24 (-110 DraftKings)
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