The Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State Rams will renew their rivalry as the next edition of the Rocky Mountain Showdown will take place on Friday, August 31st, 2018 at 9:30 PM ET in Denver, Colorado. This affair is a neutral-site game that takes place at Broncos Stadium at Mile High and will be broadcasted on the PAC 12 Network. As of late, Colorado has had its way in this intrastate feud as they have won the last three meetings between the two parties. Last year, Colorado handed Colorado State a 17-3 loss as a three-point favorite.
Colorado State Rams vs. Colorado Buffaloes Overview
Colorado State Rams
The Rams come in off a 43-34 loss at home when it hosted the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors last week in Fort Collins. Colorado State trailed by as much as 30 points in the affair despite closing in some markets as an 18-point choice. The Rams would rumble back to within six of the Warriors, but it was simply too little, too late for CSU.
Colorado Buffaloes
The Buffaloes come in off a 5-7 campaign in 2017 after playing for a Pac-12 Championship the year before. Coach Mike MacIntyre will field a team that returns just 10 starters, four of which are on offense. The Buffs saw deficiencies creep in last year as it averaged 4.7 fewer points per game on offense compared to 2016 while allowing nearly a touchdown more per game (21.7 ppg in 2016 to 28.2 ppg in 2017). The forecast in Boulder is a bit more overcast with all these factors taken into consideration.
Reasons To Back Colorado State
Buying low and selling high is a sound practice when it comes to handicapping any game. There is little question that the Rams’ stock is through the floor after last week’s debacle. This is further embellished by the fact that we have seen the Rams granted an additional 1.5 points since the open of this market and 79% of the money and 73% of the ticket action being in on CU at this juncture. However, the fact remains that Colorado State does have a few weapons in their arsenal to test this unproven Colorado defense, including K.J Carta-Samuels who threw for 537 yards and five touchdowns last week against Hawaii.
Reasons To Avoid Colorado
The Buffaloes are prime candidates for a let-down here. Colorado has had the upper hand in this rivalry as of late and could be prone to taking the Rams lightly after watching them lose in hideous fashion on national television, last week. However, State will be fired up for this one, and the ingredients of this scenario make Colorado a risky play.
Get more details: Colorado vs Colorado State NCAAF Match-Up
