Colorado vs. Washington State Predictions, Picks & Odds Week 12: Buffaloes' Woes Continue
The Washington State Cougars welcome the Colorado Buffaloes to town in the second game of a college football doubleheader on Friday, and we make our best Colorado vs. Washington State prediction based on the best college football odds at our top college football betting sites.
Colorado enters Week 12 with a 4-6 overall record and a 1-6 standing in the Pac-12 following a challenging stretch resulting in four straight losses. When they clashed, the Buffaloes succumbed to three consecutive opponents with AP poll rankings. Out of their 10 games this season, six have been against ranked opponents, and they secured just one victory in these matchups — a season-opening win against then-No. 17 TCU, which presently holds a 4-6 overall record. This emphasizes Colorado's struggles against top-tier competition.
Washington State (4-6, 1-6 Pac-12) has endured the longest losing streak in the conference this season, with six consecutive defeats. The Cougars' last two losses were each by three points, and their recent defeat to California was particularly disheartening, considering the Golden Bears entered the game on a four-game losing streak of their own.
As part of our Week 12 college football predictions, here is our best Colorado vs. Washington State prediction and our college football picks (odds via our best college football betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Colorado vs. Washington State prediction: Week 12
Washington State -4.5 (-110 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐
An optimistic view of Colorado after 10 games would be that the Buffaloes ranked 126th with a -24.0 SP+ rating last year and used the transfer portal to improve that to -4.5, which ranks 79th in the country. However, after a 3-0 start, Coach Prime has gotten a little antsy with how things have played out recently, resulting in removing play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Sean Lewis and handing them to newly hired co-offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
In Shurmur’s first game in that role, the Buffaloes managed just three offensive points through three quarters at home against Oregon State. While the offense looked a little better last week against Arizona in throwing for 262 yards, the offensive line still gets no push, and the Buffaloes' running game was bottled up for 2.6 yards per carry on 30 attempts. Thus, we do not expect Colorado to take advantage of one of Washington State’s most significant weaknesses, as its run defense ranked in the Bottom 15 of Power 5 schools in Rush Explosiveness and Rush Success from Weeks 7-10. In addition, the self-inflicted wounds continue to bite Colorado, as it had 11 penalties for 83 yards last week, which was a big reason it converted only 33% of its third-down attempts.
As long as Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders continues to be under pressure (Colorado entered last week with the second-most sacks allowed of any FBS team), it will not matter who is calling plays for Colorado. Washington State ranks third in the country in passing yards per game (337.9), and quarterback Cameron Ward has done a fantastic job of protecting the football, with a 20-5 TD-INT ratio despite attempting the fourth-most passes (408) of any FBS quarterback.
This is only a three-star play, as Colorado’s last four losses have been by 25 total points, but it has a -42 point differential in road games this year, and there is too much turmoil with coaching changes and different roles to back the Buffaloes confidently.
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Colorado vs. Washington State best odds
FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365 (-110)
It is not often one sees a line this sharp that has our best sports betting apps in unison with both the number and price, but bettors have their pick of several sportsbooks of where to place their wager, as there is no better value at one shop over another. However, considering Colorado is 0-8 ATS in its last eight road games against unranked teams, we would be willing to play this number up to -5 if necessary.
Colorado vs. Washington State odds
Colorado vs. Washington State odds analysis
Caesars is the only one of our best sports betting sites whose spread never reached a high of -5.5; its current -4.5 number is the highest it got all week. All other shops peaked at -5.5 before Colorado backers weighed in and drove the number down. There is dead-even two-way action on the point spread thus far. Colorado is 6-3 ATS this year, while Washington State has covered just four of its 10 games.
While all of our sites with the best sportsbook promos are in unison on the point spread, there is much variation among them regarding the total. The most common O/U is 64, but BetMGM is on the low end at 63.5, while FanDuel is the lone shop as high as 64.5. Both DraftKings and bet365 increased a half-point from their original numbers of 63.5 to 64, which is slightly reflected in the betting splits, as 58% of early wagers have supported the Over. The Under is 6-1 in Washington State’s last seven home games against non-AP-ranked teams.
Colorado vs. Washington State game info
- When: Friday, Nov. 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Gesa Field, Pullman, WA
- How to watch: FS1
- Weather: 47 degrees, 4% chance of precipitation, wind 9 mph ESE
Colorado-Washington State prediction made 11/14/2023 at 4:08 p.m. ET.
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