Can Deion Sanders turn the tide of the Colorado Buffaloes football program in his first year as head coach? Let’s take a closer look at the best college football odds for Coach Prime and his program, utilizing the top college football betting sites for our Colorado betting preview.
The excitement is real; Deion Sanders brought his skills to Boulder, Colorado and he didn’t arrive alone. We all remember the first meeting he had with the team and essentially advising the returning players to pack their bags, right?
Coach Prime’s commitment to the transfer portal resulted in his son Shedeur Sanders moving on as quarterback. It also led to Travis Hunter, the top recruit of 2022 and a versatile star who previously played for Sanders at Jackson State, making the decision to play for his head coach in Colorado.
The Colorado program is seeing an uptick in ticket sales, social media is teeming with clips, and Sanders claims Colorado is on the rise. But how does all of this translate to the betting markets for the Colorado football program in its first year with Sanders as head coach?
Check out our Colorado 2023 bet preview based on odds from our best sports betting apps (choose confidence based on a 1-5 star scale).
Colorado Betting Preview 2023
Colorado wins under 3.5 games (-125 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Here, we devote the entire introduction to building excitement around the Buffaloes’ potential turnaround under Coach Prime, and then recommend betting on the underteam when it comes to the Buffaloes’ regular-season aggregate win tally. Personally, I hope Sanders can do something special in Boulder. I think it would be very entertaining for the sport of college football. Still, our goal is to ensure successful betting by focusing on strategic betting rather than betting based on personal preference.
In my view, Sanders has the ability to build something special with Colorado. However, this only marks the first year of the rebuilding process and it will take time to reshape the culture and fully integrate its players into the program.
Sports betting works like a market and BetMGM has made it clear that there is a significant risk of the Buffaloes surpassing their 3.5 game win total. In fact, at BetMGM, the Buffaloes are the team with the most bet overs of any college football team in terms of regular season winning tally. This particular risk that BetMGM is exposed to in relation to the Over allows us to secure an excellent price for the Under at BetMGM compared to other prices available on our best sports betting sites.
At BetRivers, the Buffaloes are listed at -162 to go under 3.5 wins, while FanDuel lists them at -154. This is a significant difference from the -125 odds available at BetMGM, which is why I prefer the under odds in this case. All of these other trading teams are signaling that gains below 3.5 at -125 is a solid price point. BetMGM is only offering -125 on the under as it is difficult to offset the potential risk associated with the Buffaloes.
BetMGM
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Shedeur Sanders Over 2725.5 yards (-115 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐
When you’re betting on a team winning fewer than 3.5 games, it becomes especially difficult to find other futures markets to bet on. This challenge is particularly pronounced in college football, where the availability of futures markets is more limited compared to the NFL.
While betting on Colorado’s team future could be a challenging proposition, I believe there is an opportunity to bet on the over for Sanders’ player props this season. Several of our top sportsbooks offer player props for the entire season, but only DraftKings has Sanders listed.
Favoring the underteam on the Buffaloes’ winning total means we expect them to be several games behind this season. As a result, the Buffaloes’ offense will likely take a pass-heavy approach to gain ground in these situations. While Coach Prime might not say so publicly, he’s undoubtedly keen to improve his son’s draft record – I mean, what father wouldn’t be?
Last year, Sanders accumulated 3,732 passing yards at Jackson State. While the competition in the Pac-12 will be quite different from last season, it’s worth noting that Sanders was a four-star recruit after graduating high school. Additionally, I tend to consider exceeding 2725.5 yards with his father at the helm.
DraftKings
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Shedeur Sanders Over 19.5 passing touchdowns (-120 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐
Just as the Buffaloes are raking in sizable overs with their wins of the season, we’ve also seen Sanders garner considerable attention in the Heisman Trophy futures market. Winning this award not only requires impressive individual stats, but also hinges on the team’s promotion to the College Football Playoffs. While not an official Heisman rule, this trend has been observed in polls over the past few seasons.
Again, with the Buffaloes’ 3.5 win total moving towards the under, I have a hard time justifying a Heisman bet on Sanders, even though his odds are over +15,000. The team’s success just won’t support such a bet. I think it would make more sense to consider these two player props for the full season at Sanders instead.
During his two seasons at Jackson State, Sanders threw 70 touchdown passes, suggesting Coach Prime doesn’t shy away from aggressive passing play in the red zone, especially with his son at the helm. Similar to the passing yards analysis, I suspect Coach Prime will prioritize improving his son’s stats to improve his draft inventory.
There are concerns about how Sanders’ production will carry over to the Pac-12 after his time at Jackson State. This explains why his totals for this season are significantly lower compared to his previous production at Jackson State. I think this narrative might be overblown considering Sanders received a scholarship offer from Alabama after high school. His decision to attend Jackson State was based on a desire to play for his father, not a lack of skills to attend a Power 5 conference.
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