NCAAF Analysis: The Colorado Buffaloes were further behind the rest of the Pac 12 Conference than perhaps anyone realized as second year head coach Mike MacIntyre has a massive building job ahead of him. Todd Graham has quickly gotten the Arizona State Sun Devils up to speed and in his third year on the job as head coach he is gunning for a second consecutive trip to the Pac 12 Championship Game with one of the top offensive units in the land.
The Colorado Buffaloes will host the Arizona State Sun Devils at Folsom Field on Saturday night with coverage on ESPNU starting at 10 PM ET. BetDSI opened with Arizona State as a 15.5 point favorite.
Sparky Hot Offense!
Arizona State is 2-0 straight up and 1-1 against the spread after last week’s 58-23 payout at New Mexico as 24-point favorites. The Sun Devils rank seventh in the nation for total offense and tailback DJ Foster has been sensational with 10.7 yards per carry and 4 TD’s.
CU Must Buff up Board Value
Colorado is 1-1 straight up but 0-2 against the spread and barely escaped with a 41-38 win at UMass last week as 17.5 point favorites. MacIntyre turned around a woeful San Jose State program so he has experience at rebuilding, but the Buffs are out of their element in the tough Pac 12.
Matchup and Pick
Arizona State has struggled to maintain good betting value on the road with just five payouts in their last 14 away games as just five out of their last 20 away games have gone under the total. Colorado, conversely, has not been an effective board value at home with just six payouts in their last 17 games at Folsom Field with four out of their last six home games going over the total. Arizona State has dominated their head to head series with Colorado as the Sun Devils have won straight up and covered the last five consecutive meetings as two out of the last three games between Arizona State and Colorado have gone over the total. ASU has defeated CU by margins of 34 points in 2011, 34 points in 2012, and 41 points last year. We’ll call for Arizona State (-15) and over the total in this one.
