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The North Dakota State Bison and Colorado Buffaloes open their seasons at Folsom Field Thursday. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the North Dakota State vs. Colorado odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
North Dakota State finished last season 11-4 and lost 31-29 in 2 OT to Montana in the FCS semifinals. Its biggest move of the offseason was bringing back Wyoming offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Polasek to take over as coach — Polasek held multiple positions with North Dakota State from 2006-12 and 2014-16.
Colorado went from 1-11 (1-8 Pac-12) in 2022 to 4-8 (1-8) last year in its 1st season with coach Deion Sanders, QB Shedeur Sanders, and WR/CB Travis Hunter. The betting public is hoping that Colorado — now back in the Big 12 — continues trending upward, as the Buffaloes at +15000 (bet $100 to win $15,000) are the 2nd-biggest liability for BetMGM Sportsbook to win the national championship.
– Rankings: US LBM Coaches Poll, conducted by the American Football Coaches Association and USA TODAY Sports
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North Dakota State at Colorado odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:06 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): North Dakota State +290 (bet $100 to win $290) | Colorado -375 (bet $375 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): North Dakota State +10 (-115) | Colorado -10 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 60.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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North Dakota State at Colorado picks and predictions
Prediction
Colorado 38, North Dakota State 31
Moneyline
It’s unlikely that Colorado (-375), which beat TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State last year, will lose to an FCS team in its home opener. However, 10 is a lot of points to lay in this spot, especially after we saw favorites go 0-4 in Week 0.
PASS. Bet the spread and/or total instead.
Against the spread
Colorado went 1-2 ATS as a home favorite last year, and while recreational bettors don’t typically move lines, I worry that this spread is a little inflated due to the public’s obsession with the Buffaloes.
Colorado already proved last season — even though it was a small sample size — that it tends to play down to the level of its competition, and North Dakota State is one of the harder FCS programs to blow out.
BET NORTH DAKOTA STATE +10 (-115).
Over/Under
This total opened at 58.5 points, so we’re not getting the best of the number here, but 2 points of movement isn’t that bad when trying to bet same-day totals.
The Over went 4-2 in Colorado home games last year. The Buffaloes showed last season that they can’t be trusted to stop anyone, allowing 34.8 points per game overall, good for 119th in the nation (out of 133 programs) according to TeamRankings.com.
BET OVER 60.5 (-115).
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