What’s in Store for Colorado Buffaloes Football After Winning Game 1?

It was a shaky start to Year Two of the Deion Sanders experience and those participating on Colorado sports betting apps. The Colorado Buffaloes survived a 60-minute coronary against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State at Folsom Field in Week 1 and emerged with a 31-26 victory to move to 1-0 for the year.

Now, the man called Prime and the Buffs head east to play their longtime Big 12 rivals from Lincoln, as CU squares off against fellow 1-0 team Nebraska at 5:30 p.m. Central time on NBC, with the Buffs listed as a 7.5-point road underdog in the contest according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

For all the latest information on CU’s quest to reach a bowl game for the first time since 2020, check out our bowl projections for Sanders and the Buffs, with more information on Colorado Buffaloes 2024 odds available here.

At BetColorado.com, we wanted to see how the rest of their season will play out, based on data from the past five full seasons (excluding 2020). Using Sports-Reference.com, we found the results of each first game of all of the current Big 12 teams from the past five full seasons and each team’s final win-loss record for the season. Then, we averaged out the win-loss percentage for all teams who won the first game, and for teams that lost the first game. We also pulled Colorado’s records following the same methodology.

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Conference Final Results After Game 1

Result	Average Win-Loss %
Win	.559
Loss	.436

Colorado Buffaloes Final Results After Game 1

Result	Average Win-Loss %
Win	.375
Loss	.083

Can CU Football Turn A Corner In 2024?

In the last half-decade, CU has fared better (but not well) when they start seasons with a win versus falling on their faces in Week 1 of the regular season, posting a year-end winning percentage of .375 on average after starting 1-0 versus a .083 mark when they lose in the team’s opener.

Given the fact that Colorado’s last winning campaign in a full season (excluding the 4-2 COVID season in 2020) came under Mike MacIntyre in 2016, when CU went 10-4 and lost to Oklahoma State by 30 points (38-8) in the Alamo Bowl, it’s fair to wonder how much a difference winning or losing has made in the grand scheme of things along the Flatirons of late.

We’ll know a lot more about that and more once Sanders and the Buffs’ take on Matt Rhule’s Cornhuskers on the road this weekend, as CU looks to show that last year’s 3-0 non-conference start wasn’t an aberration, beginning with the team’s showdown against their former regional rivals from Lincoln on Saturday evening.

Stay with BetColorado.com as we bring you Buffaloes coverage all season long and take advantage of our best Colorado sportsbook promos before you place your next wager.

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Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.