Saturday, Nov. 9
4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific
Fox
The Colorado Buffaloes received some amazing news last weekend. Big 12 football game results dramatically improved the Buffs’ chances of making the Big 12 Championship Game. Kansas State stumbled at Houston and Iowa State lost at home to Texas Tech. Colorado is right there with a chance to face BYU in the Big 12 title game, which would be an extraordinary achievement for Deion Sanders in Year 2 as CU’s head coach. Deion and Colorado have been one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises in college football this season.
Travis Hunter has risen to the top of the Heisman Trophy leaderboard, and Shedeur Sanders has significantly improved his NFL draft stock. Crucially, Colorado’s line play – questioned before the season and then doubted after the early-season loss at Nebraska – has stabilized and improved. CU is not a turnstile up front, and that has enabled the elite skill players on the edges to lift the Buffaloes to make a defining difference for Coach Prime.
Now we get to see if Colorado can handle one of the tougher road trips in the Big 12. It is not easy to win in Lubbock. Even Texas and Oklahoma have had to fight really hard to win Big 12 games over the years before they left the conference for the SEC. If Colorado can pass this test, its chances of making the Big 12 Championship Game will grow. If the Buffaloes can finish the season strong, they might be able to play in a big-time bowl game and stay on the fringe of the College Football Playoff conversation.
Colorado Buffaloes-Texas Tech Red Raiders Odds
Spread: Colorado -3.5 (-108), Texas Tech +3.5 (-112)
Total: 62.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: Texas Tech +136
Hear T.J. Rives and Kevin Rogers give their thoughts on this Big 12 showdown off the “3 Dog Thursday Podcast” by clicking play below,
Can Red Raiders Ruin Buffs Big 12 Title Hopes?
The ability of Colorado to not get dominated up front, and allow its quarterback, receivers, and other dynamic athletes to win games has been a conspicuous, constant feature of its season ever since the escape from Baylor on a late-game Hail Mary. Since the Baylor game, Colorado has improved by several degrees. Given that Colorado has been a consistent team in a Big 12 which has been very volatile and uncertain this year, that’s a good reason to recommend a Colorado bet. You could make the case that getting CU at minus-3.5 points instead of minus-2.5 points is a risk, and that’s fair, but when you consider that Colorado has been winning by more than three points the vast majority of the time this year, that shouldn’t be too much of a concern.
Texas Tech just won at Iowa State. Does that result say more about the Red Raiders themselves, or does it say more about Iowa State and a Big 12 in which there are no great teams? BYU is unbeaten, but let’s be clear in saying the Cougars are not a great team. They are a successful team which has won a lot of close games this season, but that’s different from being a great team which is clearly far better than the competition. In the Big 12, parity reigns, and that might be the reason someone would bet on Texas Tech to throw a monkey wrench into Colorado’s plans.