Boom or bust: Bettors throwing heavy money on Colorado football despite long odds

Deion Sanders and the Colorado football team have the opportunity to make a lot of people a ton of cash in 2024.

The Buffaloes are the most-bet team to win the Big 12 this season, according to BetMGM.

No, seriously.

Thirty percent of money at BetMGM is on Colorado to win the conference after going 1-8 in the Pac-12 (4-8 overall) a year ago.

Oddsmakers certainly don’t agree with that 30%, giving the Buffaloes the 11th-best odds (+3000) to win the Big 12. That aligns with the 11th-place finish predicted for Sanders and Colorado by Big 12 football media members who voted on the conference’s preseason poll.

Those are some juicy odds, though, especially when one considers how Sanders has improved the offensive line and defensive side of the ball with talented transfers to go along with a pair of projected first-round NFL draft picks.

And although the Buffs play each of the three teams with the best odds to win the Big 12 this season — Kansas State (+350), Utah (+350) and Oklahoma State (+700) — each of those games will be in Boulder at Folsom Field.

Colorado football bettors might be on to something. Or they might be dead wrong.

It’s the beauty (and pain) of gambling.

2024 Colorado football schedule

• Aug. 29 (Thursday): Vs. North Dakota State, 6 p.m. MT on ESPN

• Sept. 7: At Nebraska, 5:30 p.m. MT on NBC

• Sept. 14: At Colorado State, 5:30 p.m. MT on CBS

• Sept. 21: Vs. Baylor (homecoming)

• Sept. 28: At Central Florida

• Oct. 5: Bye

• Oct. 12: Vs. Kansas State

• Oct. 19: At Arizona

• Oct. 26: Vs. Cincinnati

• Nov. 2: Bye

• Nov. 9: At Texas Tech

• Nov. 16: Vs. Utah

• Nov. 23: At Kansas (at Arrowhead Stadium)

• Nov. 29 (Friday): Vs. Oklahoma State, 10 a.m. MT, ABC

Follow Colorado Buffaloes sports reporter Scott Procter on X.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Boom or bust: Bettors throwing heavy money on Colorado football despite long odds