Colorado/Nebraska Attracts More Bets Than Entire NFL Week 1 Slate

Colorado/Nebraska drew more bets than the entire NFL Week 1

The Colorado State Buffaloes host the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Boulder on Saturday in a single college football game that has attracted more bets and money than a series of Week 1 games in the NFL.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders (aka Coach Prime and former NFL star) explains why bettors are jumping on the Colorado bandwagon. Colorado last won in 2005. Midway through last season, they fired head coach Carl Dorrell after an 0-5 start. They made the controversial decision to hire Sanders, who had found success at Jackson State. Sanders made Jackson State one of the top HBCU schools.

Some insiders believe Sanders' hiring was a stunt. But when tickets went on sale, Colorado officials knew they had hired the right person. Demand for season tickets increased at the school, and tickets for individual games sold out quickly. Sanders has yet to set foot on campus, and the scalpers are once again the biggest show in town.

The University of Colorado is located in Boulder, 25 miles from Denver.Colorado’s sports-loving residents love sports betting. It’s been a great few years for Denver’s professional teams. The Colorado Avalanche won the 2022 Stanley Cup last summer. Last June, the Denver Nuggets won their first NBA championship.

Coach Prime and scalpers piss off TCU

Colorado beat No. 17 TCU last Saturday as a +10 underdog. Colorado won one game last season, but not against a TCU team that made it to the national championship game against Georgia.

Colorado came from behind to defeat TCU 45-42 in a thrilling shootout. It was their first win against a ranked team since 2002.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Colorado's head coach, set school records with 510 yards passing and four touchdowns. Four players have at least 100 yards receiving, including Travis Hunter, a two-way star who played cornerback and receiver for Buffa.

"Many of you don't believe us," Shadl Sanders said. "It's crazy because you just realize our coach, Coach Prime, my dad, is a winner wherever he goes. "Every game, every opportunity he takes advantage of. "

After the TCU game, the Heisman Trophy odds for both Colorado stars increased significantly. Hunter Sanders and Shaddell Sanders no longer have much of a chance to win the Heisman Trophy. Hunter's odds improved from 80:1 to 16:1. Sanders' odds went from 100-1 to 22-1.

Last year's winner, USC quarterback Caleb Williams, remains the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy in back-to-back seasons at +450.

Bettors love Colorado in Week 2

Oddsmakers have the Colorado/Nebraska game at -5 to open the season at home in Boulder. Early bettors picked Nebraska, and oddsmakers quickly improved the odds by two points. The odds were set at -3 on Sunday morning, and bettors — both amateurs and pros — have been betting on Colorado all week.

The line is currently at Colorado -3 on DraftKings. Las Vegas casinos like South Point and Circa are at -2.5 in Colorado.

Oddsmakers at several sportsbooks were shocked by the public's massive action on the Colorado/Nebraska game. BetOnline is the first sportsbook to publicly acknowledge the betting phenomenon in Colorado. Colorado/Nebraska gets more attention than all 16 games in the first week of the NFL season.

DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM also confirmed their heavy bets on Colorado to ESPN.

"Every time I look at the college football schedule since Saturday, I see some Colorado State bets," Caesars Sportsbook's Joey Fizer told ESPN."The action was crazy."

After Colorado defeated TCU last week, PointsBet/Fanatics reported a significant increase in future bets on Colorado winning the national championship at 100-1. As expected, the Colorado/Nebraska game is also a popular bet.

ESPN's David Purdum reports: "More money has been bet on a Colorado State loss versus the Cornhuskers on PointsBet/Fanatics than has been wagered on 30 NFL teams."

According to DraftKings, Colorado currently has a +10,000 chance to win the national championship. In the Pac-12 Futures Game, Colorado's chances of winning the conference are +2200. They are the seventh-ranked team on DraftKings.

Colorado/Nebraska Look Back on 8 Great and Glorious Days

Colorado faced Nebraska for the first time in 1898 in Boulder, with Nebraska winning 23-10. The two universities met five times on the track between 1902 and 1907, with Nebraska winning 4-1.

In 1948, Colorado and Nebraska began their annual rivalry with the formation of the unofficial Big Seven Conference. In 1957, the Big Eight was officially established. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the two Big 8 rivals typically met on the last Saturday in October.

When the Big 8 changed its name to the Big 12 in the mid-1990s, the Colorado-Nebraska game was scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving. This competitive game became a Black Friday tradition, starting in 1996 and continuing until 2010.

Colorado and Nebraska stopped playing in 2011 after both exiting the Big 12. Colorado moved west and joined the Pac-12, and Nebraska moved to the Midwest and joined the Big Ten. They last met as conference opponents in 2010 in Lincoln.Nebraska defeated Colorado 45-17 in its last Big 12 Conference game.

Old-school Big 12 fans and alumni are shocked that the Colorado/Nebraska game is no longer on their conference schedule, so any meeting between the two schools is considered a big deal.

The two schools reignited their rivalry in two games in 2018 and 2019. Colorado has won both games, including an overtime victory in Boulder in 2019.

Nebraska is 49-20-2 against Colorado over the years, but Colorado is 6-6 since 2001.

This will be Colorado's final season in the Pac-12 Conference. They agreed to leave the Pac-12 and rejoin the Big 12 next season.