Betting Markets Suggest Colorado's Rating In EA Sports' College Football 25 Is Insane
Will the Buffs live up to their hype this year?
Matthew Horner - Jul 4, 2024, 7:45am EDT
All Bark, No Bite
No team got more love before the start of the 2023 college football season than the Colorado Buffaloes and every bit of that love was almost exclusively due to head coach Deion Sanders. As soon as it was announced that he would be the head coach going forward, money poured in droves on the Buffs' win total over, at one point pushing it to 7 wins before sharps hammered the under down to 3.5. The hype train hasn't been as insane as it was last year, but Colorado is still taking early action on their over at 5.5 wins.
EA Sports' new "College Football 25" video game, which revives the franchise that last came out with a new game in 2013, has the Buffs as an 87 overall rated team. Essentially, they rate them as a top-10 team in CFB. Coach "Prime" finished with just four wins last year in the Pac-12, despite his brash and cocky demeanor. People love that, however, so they are willing to buy into it.
No Solace In 2024
Simply put, it is not going to get any easier for Colorado in 2024. The team is now part of the Big-12 conference, with a FAR more difficult strength of schedule than last season. In fact, Colorado is projected to be a favorite just one time in conference play. Their roster was picked clean thanks to the transfer portal, with Sanders calling out former players who criticized him and the team. The drama never stops, but to his credit, they did have a few big pickups in the portal. Four-stars Rayyan Buell and BJ Green will be a force on the DL, and the addition of WR Will Sheppard gives QB Shedeur Sanders (Deion's son) another weapon.
The problem is that they didn't add ANY depth pieces that will really help them, which was a big issue for them in 2023. The offensive line didn't get any stronger, which was a big concern due to how often the Buffs found themselves in passing situations. They also lost RB Dylan Edwards to rival Kansas State.
All in all, this rating is insane and the betting markets reflect that.