Navigate

Top 3 College Football Picks & Predictions: Stanford vs. Colorado (Week 7)

by |

Prime Numbers takes a weekly look at the best bets in the upcoming Colorado Buffalos game. Coach Prime got the Buffs back in the win column on Saturday, however, my picks went 0-3 despite Colorado’s success on the field thanks to a subpar offensive performance and a blown seven-point lead in the final minute. Don’t forget, kickoff for this one is slated for 10 pm EST on Friday night, so get your bets in early, and let’s get back in the win column ourselves with this week’s Prime Numbers!

Last Week: 0-3-0
2023 Season: 9-8-0

PRIME NUMBERS: Week 7 – Stanford Cardinal (1-4, 0-3) at Colorado Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

1 – Colorado Moneyline (-410)

After our heartbreaking ATS (-4.5) loss in the final minute before an ultimate Colorado straight-up 27-24 victory, I am going with the moneyline against the Cardinal. Stanford has not won since their season-opening victory against Hawaii, and Coach Prime finally got his first conference win under his belt last week. I look for him to even up his Pac-12 record at 2-2 with a win this week back in the friendly confines of Folsom Field. After being burned on the -4.5 spread last week with 50 seconds to go, I can safely say that the Buffs play with their food too much, so to speak, for me to give anything more than 2.5 points on the road until further notice. Even with this game being at home in Boulder, 11 points is just too much to give for a team that has only won one game by more than a single possession this season. These -410 odds aren’t that attractive by themselves, so this bet is best used in parlays, although it feels like stealing as Coach Prime and Buffs are 4-0 SU against unranked opponents this season.

2 – Anthony Hankerson Over 42.5 Rushing Yards (-130)

After carrying the ball a total of 22 times for 82 yards and failing to crack double-digit carries in the first four games of the season, Hankerson has toted the rock 26 times for 132 yards in the past two games. Given the sophomore’s increased workload and season averages, I expect Hankerson to easily go over 42.5 rushing yards. Hankerson averages 4.5 yards per carry, a number that rises to 5.08 in games he carries the ball 10+ times, making 10 the likely magic number in terms of carries for this prop to hit. Coach Prime is clearly trying to establish the run despite offensive line woes, and Hankerson is clearly a part of that. The 5’9 running back has gone over this number in each of the last two games, and of the four previous games that he did not, he was on pace to hit the number had he gotten at least our magic number of 10 carries. As with other emergent stars for Colorado this season, Vegas appears to be struggling to catch up with their prop odds, so let’s take advantage of this as this number, and these odds will likely only move up the closer we get to kickoff Friday night so get in on this ASAP.

3 – 1H Over 30.5 Total Points (-112)

This first-half total has hit in five of Colorado’s six games and three of Stanford’s five games, giving this a cover percentage of 72.7% this season. This total has also hit in two of Colorado’s three home games and, coincidentally, in both Stanford road games this season, combining to hit this total in similar home/road conditions at an 80 percent clip this season. It’s easy to see why Vegas set this number at 30.5, as both teams have combined to average 31.3 1H points across their 11 total games this season. Colorado’s games have averaged 32.2 total 1H points, and Stanford’s games have averaged fractionally under our 30.5 number, coming in at 30.2, but that is still good enough for me to back this. I like this to hit, even if it comes in at exactly 31, as it has in half of the eight games this 1H total would have been covered.

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:

 


Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | RadioPublic | Breaker | Castbox | Pocket Casts

Luke Monaldo is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @MoKnowsSports. For more from Luke, check out his archive.

Try Premium for FREE in our mobile app

BettingPros App