North Dakota State vs. Colorado Expert Pick and Prediction – August 29, 2024

NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS. COLORADO EXPERT PICK AND PREDICTION – August 29, 2024 — Does Deion Sanders know what he’s gotten himself into here? While Sanders has spent the offseason fighting with Denver columnists and taking offense to something from CBS, North Dakota State has primed itself to pull yet another upset.

The Bison have struck fear into the hearts of any FBS team foolish enough to schedule them for the past 15 years now. The story by now has become quite familiar: NDSU comes to your campus, collects a paycheck and leaves town with the victory. North Dakota State has played seven games against FBS opponents in the past 14 seasons, and only Arizona managed to avoid defeat.

You read that right. The Bison are 6-1 in their past seven games against the FBS.

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But they’re catching 9.5 points, because they had a down year (by their standards) last season and because Deion is Deion. Regardless of how people feel about him, one cannot deny that Sanders drives attention and money. And after Colorado upset TCU to open last season, nobody wants to get caught napping on the Buffaloes again.

However, there’s still a lot of questions around this Colorado program. They’re still not very good in the trenches. They’re still a mishmesh of a group trying to figure out which pieces go where. And their offensive coordinator has still never called a winning game plan at Colorado. When facing one of the most consistent programs in the nation, that’s not a great recipe for success.

The Odds

Kickoff

When: Thursday, August 29 at 8 p.m. EST

Where: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colo.

TV: ESPN

Public Bets: Unavailable

Public Money: Unavailable

Odds courtesy of DraftKings, as of August 25th, 2024.

North Dakota State vs. Colorado In-Season Trends

There’s not a lot of data on North Dakota State because the Bison just can’t get people to play them. The last time they faced a Big 12 team, it got ugly: the Bison ran over Iowa State 34-14 in 2014. That was their third straight win over a Big 12 opponent (Arizona was a Pac-12 team when it faced NDSU), as the Bison also beat Kansas State in 2013 and Kansas in 2010. 

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Colorado was a bettor’s darling down the stretch, once the books overcorrected on the Buffaloes. CU went 0-6 SU down the stretch, but went 4-2 ATS in those games. But those were games where Deion’s star power worked against the books, as Colorado was facing Pac-12 opponents. When the books bought into the CU hype, the Buffaloes weren’t a great bet. As a favorite last year, CU went just 1-3 ATS. 

Weather

Boulder should miss the heat wave that’s going to choke the Midwest this week. The temperatures should dip into the low 60s or high 50s by kickoff on Thursday, and there’s barely any wind and slim chances of rain in the forecast.

The Difference-Makers

Shedeur Sanders played excellent football last season behind a sieve of an offensive line. Colorado’s line should be a little better this year, if only because it can’t be much worse. Sanders excels at making the right decision with the football, but he sometimes takes too long to make that decision. If the line gives him time, he’s deadly. If not, CU’s in trouble.

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Cam Miller also makes good decisions with the football and routinely makes plays with his legs. Unlike Colorado, NDSU routinely has a great offensive line. Several Power 4 programs threw large offers at guard Grey Zabel, who turned them down to stay in Fargo. He’s likely to be the main man NDSU runs its attack behind.

The Pick

This line seems to be a little high. Colorado should be improved from last season, but it’s still not much of a true team and didn’t address its big needs in the trenches. There seems to be more drama than solutions in Boulder, and that’s likely to fuel NDSU’s motivation to pull another upset.

I’m not sure the Bison can add a seventh name to their wall of FBS victims, but I do think they keep this within a score.