Aside from the anticipation of the 2024 college football season getting fully underway started on Thursday, the North Dakota State at Colorado week 1 matchup should have plenty of attention on this nationally televised ESPN game. Of course “Coach Prime” Deion Sanders and a star-studded Buffaloes team are going to be must-watch for most of the season.
North Dakota State can make a name for themselves on national TV, and they have the team to do so The Bison went to the FCS semifinals after two trips to the championship game prior (1-1) and have an experienced team that went 11-4 last season. Colorado is a -9.5 favorite in Boulder and 57% of the betting public are giving the points.
Why North Dakota State Has Value on Thursday
NDSU is one of the more successful FCS teams in recent memory. They’ve made 14 straight trips to at least the quarterfinals of the playoffs, winning 9 championships over that span. The last two titles came under Matt Entz, but he decided to head to the FBS and become a defensive assistant at USC.
Tim Polasek takes over for Entz, making his debut in Boulder on Thursday night. Polasek has coached at NDSU at various times for a total of 10 years and was the offensive line coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 2017-2020. He has been the offensive coordinator at Wyoming the past three years,
While Thursday marks Polasek’s debut as a head coach, his job is made easier by the return of five first team players, 9 total all conference players, and 27 seniors in all. The biggest asset Polasek has is QB Cam Miller who is entering into his 5th year of starting games for NDSU and threw just 4 INTs in 2023. Despite Miller’s success, the Bison use a two headed QB attack with Cole Payton being more of a ground threat with 13 TD runs last season.
Why Colorado Has Value on Thursday
Say what you want about the Buffaloes’ melt down last season, they did start strong with a 3-1 record in Sanders’ first four coaching games. That means teams make adjustments, but Colorado and their unique team and system is hard to figure out at first.
Colorado is by far the more talented team here, as they have at least two Heisman candidates in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Sanders is being projected as the #1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft after completing 69% of his passes last season for 27TDs against just 3 INTs. Hunter is not only arguably the best DB in the nation, he might also be one of the top WRs.
Make no mistake, Sanders as a coach can be very divisive, which caused a lot of players to enter the transfer portal. Colorado is also a high-profile program with Sanders at the helm, so a lot of players want to go there for exposure. Will Shephard is a speedster WR transfer from Vanderbilt who makes the Buffs offense even more damaging and CU recruited the top OT prospect in the class in Jordan Seaton.
Free North Dakota State at Colorado Betting Pick
North Dakota State has the rushing offense to keep the Colorado offense off the field – the only problem with that is the Buffaloes have a defense that can be ran right through (allowed 453.3 ypg and 34.8 ppg in 2023). CU should be able to score just as easily which means the total is the way to go here.
Free Pick: Over 55.5
