Bettors still backing Deion’s Buffs after hot start

Colorado remains the hottest bet on the board at sportsbooks despite handing the betting public a hefty loss this past weekend.

Colorado rallied to defeat Colorado State 43-35 in double overtime Saturday but didn’t cover the 23-point spread, much to dismay of the approximately 90% of the betting public that backed the Buffaloes. BetMGM reported Saturday morning that there were twice as many bets on Colorado to cover as on any other college football team.

Joey Feazel, lead college football trader for Caesars Sportsbook, said Colorado failing to cover produced the house’s biggest win in a game this season, nudging out Duke‘s upset of Clemson on Labor Day.

Asked if Saturday’s big win made up for the big losses Caesars suffered on Colorado’s first two games of the season, Feazel replied: “Almost.”

A month into the college football season, coach Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes, roughly a 100-1 long shot, have attracted more than twice as many futures bets to win the national championship as any other team. Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders has attracted more than half of the money wagered at DraftKings to win the Heisman Trophy.

This week in its Pac-12 opener at Oregon, Colorado is a big underdog. As of Monday, more bets had been placed and more money wagered on Colorado-Oregon than on any other game at DraftKings, including Ohio State–Notre Dame. The Buffaloes opened as 21-point underdogs.

The Colorado State-Colorado game also attracted significant in-game betting — the bulk of it on the Buffaloes, who trailed throughout most of the contest. SimpleBet, a company that provides live odds to sportsbooks, said the game accounted for 27% of all college football bets that its clients accepted Saturday.