Deion Sanders is inspiring betting confidence in Colorado

With Deion Sanders at the head coaching helm of Colorado football, the betting public is not only getting in on far more action on the Buffs than they were previously, but they are actually backing CU in big numbers. USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer shared the staggering numbers from casino and sports gambling companies in Las Vegas.

“Since the Buffaloes hired Sanders in December, their season opener at TCU on Sept. 2 has the most bet-upon college football game by handle (amount wagered) for DraftKings,” Schrotenboer prefaced before saying, “Colorado is a 19.5-point underdog in that game against last year’s No. 2 team but has gotten 67% of the handle from gamblers with that points spread. Caesars and BetMGM told USA TODAY Sports that Colorado is the most bet-upon team for regular-season win totals. Of those who have wagered on this, 89% of the tickets and handle are on the Buffs to win more than 3.5 games, according to BetMGM.”

By all accounts, there is both interest in Colorado football, and perhaps even more importantly, belief that the Buffaloes will improve despite the mass roster turnover “Prime Time” has promoted for his roster with 70 newcomers.

Pro bettors are bearish on Colorado football winning four games

While Colorado has a groundswell of support from the betting public, pro bettors, as Shrotenboer revealed, are in the exact opposite camp — backing the Buffaloes’ potential inability to muster more than three wins in 2023.

“We are seeing a lot of professional action betting on the under 3.5 wins for a couple of reasons, the first being their schedule,” Joey Feazel, the college football lead at Caesars Sportsbook, said. “Colorado’s schedule is not forgiving, as the first two matchups come against TCU and Nebraska. Colorado also returns less than 15 scholarship players to their roster. And while they added big talents such as his son, Sheduer Sanders at quarterback, and exciting two-way player Travis Hunter to the team, the pro bettors question whether they will have enough depth to compete in a talented Pac-12 Conference down the stretch.”

Will it be the “insiders” who get CU’s upcoming schedule right, or will the belief in Sanders’ ability to take his SWAC success to the Power Five ranks become a reality? To be determined…

At Folsom Field and across the west coast this Fall.