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The Colorado State Rams and Texas Longhorns open their 2024 NCAA football seasons Saturday at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Colorado State vs. Texas odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
The Rams just missed out on bowl eligibility last season, finishing 5-7. Remember, it lost that epic 2-OT game at Colorado last Sept. 16. Colorado State also lost a 25-23 heartbreaker at UNLV on Oct. 21, while slipping up 27-24 at Hawaii in the season finale in another crushing loss in the final seconds.
The Colorado State defense improved dramatically as the season went along, and it returns 6 starters. On offense, the Rams get QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi back. He went for 3,460 passing yards and 22 TD in 2023, and he will pair with All-American WR Tory Horton for a solid pass-catch combo. RB Justin Marshall finished up strong, and he could be a solid piece of the offense, too.
For Texas, it heads to the SEC for the 2024 season. While this isn’t a conference game, it’s historic nonetheless.
Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers leads a stacked offense, as long as all of the incoming portal additions develop chemistry quickly. WR Isaiah Bond and TE Amari Niblack come over from Alabama, bolting after the Nick Saban retirement. WR Matthew Golden is an underrated add via the portal from Houston, too.
Texas has some questions on the defensive side of the football, and, again, it will rely upon transfer portal adds to fill holes.
Texas is No. 4 in the US LBM Coaches Poll — conducted by the American Football Coaches Association and USA TODAY Sports.
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Colorado State at Texas odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 12:36 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Off the board
- Against the spread (ATS): Colorado State +32.5 (-110) | Texas -32.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 59.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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Colorado State at Texas picks and predictions
Prediction
Texas 41, Colorado State 17
Moneyline
Before it went off the board, Texas was at -10000, which would cost you 100 times your potential return, or a C-note for every $1 won. That’s a crazy amount of risk, and it should go without saying that it is a foolish bet not worth pursuing.
AVOID.
Against the spread
Take COLORADO STATE +32.5 (-110) with the points.
This Rams team is not a bad squad, and the defense should be significantly better than it was at the beginning of 2023. Of course, facing Texas -32.5 (-110) and the Heisman hopeful Ewers isn’t great news for a hot start.
Still, the Rams have some quality pieces on offense, and the chemistry between Fowler-Nicolosi and Horton should be able to generate some points in the 1st half.
The Rams aren’t likely to put the ‘Horns on upset alert, but don’t be surprised to see Colorado keep it within 4 TDs.
Over/Under
The UNDER 59.5 (-105) is the lean, but go with a half-unit play at best.
Generally, in Week 1, you don’t want to get too crazy with the bets anyway. It’s a feeling-out process on the field, but it’s the same thing at the betting window. Rather than reading, and seeing information on paper, we’re getting tangible, usable information for future weeks.
Anyway, Texas should be able to put up a healthy amount of points. The question is whether Colorado State is able to solve the Longhorns D. The Rams should get to at least teens on the scoreboard, but don’t look for much more than that.
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