Colorado Football Preview: What Can Coach Prime Do Without Shedeur & Travis Hunter In 2025?

New year. New playmakers. Same public obsession.

Last week, out of curiosity, I requested some internal data regarding which college football win totals were the most popular college football futures at BetMGM. 

I was a bit surprised to discover that Deion Sanders’ Colorado team was still the most popular target in the FBS win totals market, even with all the headline departures from last year’s team.

So, with hundreds of takes still evidently swirling around Coach Prime, I dove into the preseason prep to evaluate the endless and still-polarizing topic of Colorado football odds. 

Colorado Football Season Preview

Colorado had one of its best seasons in decades in 2024, thanks largely to Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The 2025 campaign will largely revolve around how well head coach Deion Sanders can replace those big names, as well as other key departures.

The receiver room, in particular, was gutted after last year’s departures. Nationally, Travis Hunter got a lot of love, but closer observers knew there was major talent all over the field for Colorado. Jimmy Horn made tons of big catches, and Lajohntay Wester finished the season with more than 1,100 yards. Will Sheppard averaged nearly 15 yards per catch. 

All four are now gone. Three of them were drafted. 

I quite like Colorado’s pick to replace Shedeur: former Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter, whose talent was too great to remain in Conference USA. But Salter is playing real power football now, and the offensive line in front of him hasn’t been good since Sanders arrived. The run game has yet to average more than 2.5 yards per carry, which has got to be one of the worst multi-year P4 trends I’ve ever seen.

On defense, the line has been a strength of Colorado’s under Sanders – the Buffs led the conference in tackles for loss, which helps explain how they were so competitive down the stretch in 2024. Colorado lost a lot here, but they also added plenty through the portal, including Alabama castoff Jahiem Oatis, who is expected to start and make a big impact.

It’s hard to imagine Colorado’s back end won’t take a step back after losing a Heisman-winning defensive back, meaning the pressure up front may need to bail out the coverage team. They did add DJ McKinney from Oklahoma State, which was a nice pickup. It’s safe to assume he’ll be Colorado’s No. 1 corner. 

Colorado Football Win Total 2025

At the BetMGM online sportsbook, Colorado’s win total is 5.5, with -140 juice to the over. Bettors can buy the under at +115. 

As of Aug. 19, 51% of tickets and 53% of the overall handle at BetMGM were on the Colorado over. A majority of that action came when the market was still at 6.5 wins for Colorado.

For all the win totals and college football odds at BetMGM, make sure you check out my broader college football win totals mega-preview.

Colorado Football Schedule Analysis

Colorado draws a difficult schedule this year as it looks to rebuild in Year 3 of the Coach Prime project. Georgia Tech is a favorite in Boulder to start the season, according to the current college football odds market at BetMGM, and the first bye doesn’t come until mid-October – the latest of any Big 12 team.

I’m high on Houston this year, so I have the Buffs at 2-2 (0-1) when they start the main portion of their conference schedule against BYU at home on Sept. 27. I’m inclined to give them a split in the BYU and TCU games. 

Morgantown is a tough place to play – and two time zones away from MST – and Colorado must head there in November. Rich Rodriguez may have figured some things out by then, too. But in the spirit of lending Colorado a friendly analysis, I’m going to write that game as a road win.

Even with those assumptions, it’s hard to get to six wins. Colorado’s remaining opponents include Iowa State, Kansas State, Arizona State, and Utah, all of which are tabbed at the top of the preseason Big 12 championship odds market. If Colorado goes 0-4 against these teams, it’s very difficult to see how an over is in play.

Colorado Football Win Total Prediction 2025

I am predicting under 5.5 wins for Colorado.

This market has already come down quite a bit since Colorado opened this market at 6.5. If you’re betting this late, you’ve already lost the best of the number.

Still, with a difficult schedule and a ton of talent gone from last year’s 9-4 team, I do think this is still an actionable market at 5.5 because of the plus money vig. 

Colorado Football Win Total Prediction: Under 5.5 (+115)