As the opening game of the 2024 season for the Colorado Buffaloes is nearly upon us, the bets have already been flowing in massively.
The Colorado Buffaloes football team will open their season against North Dakota State University, the nine-time FCS Champions who made the semifinals a season ago. The 2022 season is the last time the Bison faced off against an FBS program in Arizona, and narrowly lost 31-28. Bettors have not forgotten about this performance as the Colorado Buffaloes currently only hold 23% of the total money wagered on their team to win.
Colorado Buffaloes in for a Tough Test Against Former FCS Champions North Dakota State University
With just hours remaining before the Colorado football team kicks off their 2024 season, the bets and the money have been flowing through the sports books. The Buffaloes kick off the season against the talented North Dakota State University Bison, who have won the FCS Championship a surprising nine-times in the past. The Bison have earned themselves the reputation of being a team that FBS program do not necessarily want on their schedule.
The Bison have not taken on a test like this since the 2022 season when they faced off against the Arizona Wildcats, dropping the game 31-28 in a close contest. After winning the FCS Championship in 2021, the team has since been to two more tournaments but has not secured another win. An 11-4 season a year ago had led to the Bison booking a game with one of the hottest teams in the country in Colorado.
While the season has not started yet for Colorado, they have made serious additions to their team and plenty of off-field changes this offseason as well. The Buffaloes have had so much going on both on and off the field that honing in their focus for this upcoming battle against the Bison could be difficult. The Bison are no joke, and the bettors of the world understand that as 77% of the current wagered money is backing the Bison to win.
Currently, North Dakota State is a 9.5-point underdog against Colorado with the money line sitting at +280 for the Bison. Colorado has not won a football game since October 7th when they beat Arizona State 27-24 to improve to a 4-2 record. The Buffaloes have lost their last six-straight games and allowed 35.5-points per game during that stretch which ranked among the highest in the country last season.
Can the North Dakota State Football Upset the Colorado Buffaloes Team During the Opening Week?
There is always a chance for an upset, even when it may not appear to look like there is on paper, and North Dakota State is one of those schools to prove so. The Bison most notably defeated the #13 Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2016 regular season despite being double-digit underdogs with a 10.9% chance to win. Heading into their clash against the Buffaloes, the Bison currently have a 28.7% chance to win and are just 9.5-point underdogs.
At +280 as the incoming underdog, plenty of bettors have tossed their money towards the single-bet on the Bison to take home the victory. While much of this may be momentum moving towards an interesting line, many of the bettors also have statistics on their side heading into this game. A season ago, Colorado was a much different team with over 40 incoming transfers and signees combined in their class.
Colorado has plenty of players they need to sort through and plenty of talent that has come in and is expected to dominate right from the jump. The Buffaloes got off to a hot start last season as the team scored 124-points in their first three games, but allowed 91-points on defense as well. The next three games saw the Buffaloes score 74-points and allow a whopping 114-points against the likes of Oregon, USC, and Arizona State.
The consistency of the Colorado football team a season ago was their biggest issue as nobody quite knew which Buffaloes team would emerge on the field. In particular, the Buffaloes struggled against bad teams as they allowed some of the worst teams in the Pac-12 Conference a season ago run-up the score. Stanford and Washington State had a combined 4-14 record in conference last season but both teams defeated Colorado, combining for 102-points.
The Stanford game in particular from a season ago is a perfect example of why the North Dakota State Bison may just pull off a win tonight. While Stanford is a much more talented team that the Bison on paper, the team truly struggled last season, allowing 452-points (Most in the Pac-12) and finishing with a 3-9 record that included an 0-7 home record. When playing against the Buffaloes, Colorado allowed quarterback Ashton Daniels to throw for 396 yards and four touchdowns even though Daniels is notably not a pass-first quarterback.
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