Colorado vs. Wash State Spread Pick
Two teams heading in opposite directions will meet in Boulder at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday when the Colorado Buffaloes host the Washington State Cougars. Will the Cougars cover as a 6.5-point road favorite or is there value in the Buffs?
Game Snapshot
163 Washington State Cougars at 164 Colorado Buffaloes
3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, November 10
Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Cougars are 6.5-point favorites to beat the Buffaloes. The total, meanwhile, sits at 62 points. As of this writing, 69% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Cougars.
Washington State Cougars
Washington State senior QB Gardner Minshew completed 35-of-51 passes for 334 yards, a touchdown and an interception in Saturday’s 19-13 win against Cal. The mustachioed grad transfer has a cult following on the Palouse, as everyone is wearing fakes mustaches and holding out hope the Cougars can find their way into the college football playoff. The Golden Bears really made Minshew and the Cougs work for the win on Saturday, as this was the first time he failed to throw at least three touchdowns in a game against an FBS opponent this season. Still, he has at least 319 yards in each of his nine starts. Next up is a trip to play skidding Colorado on Saturday.
Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado redshirt junior QB Steven Montez completed 27-of-42 passes for 342 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in a 42-34 loss to Arizona on Friday. Montez was brilliant at the start of the game, but that brilliance slowly deteriorated while Khalil Tate started — and finished — brilliantly. A bad combination for the Buffaloes. Keep in mind that Montez was missing his top pass-catching option in Laviska Shenault, and two more wideouts (KD Nixon and Jay MacIntyre) suffered injuries. He also suffered an injury to his side, and looked to be in pain on his throws after. It’s a situation worth monitoring, but he’ll have two-plus weeks to get healthy since Colorado’s next game is November 17 against Washington State.
Betting Trends
Washington State
The Cougars are 5-1 against the spread in their last six conference games and are 8-1 against the number in their last nine games overall. In fact, Wazzu failed to cover the spread for the first time all year last week as a 7.5-point favorite over Cal.
Colorado
The Buffaloes are 3-8-1 against the spread in their last 12 games versus a team with a winning record.
Prediction
Colorado has fallen apart over its last four games (all losses), in large part because of injuries. That said, the Buffs could get dynamic receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. back this week and if he does play, CU is unbeaten when he plays. Dating back to his Texas Tech days, Mike Leach has never won in Boulder. The Cougars had a narrow win over Stanford two weeks ago and Cal held Leach’s offense to 19 points last week in Pullman. I wouldn’t be shocked if Wazzu gets tripped up today but if not, I like having the points in my back pocket with the Buffs.
College Football Prediction: Colorado Buffaloes +6.5