The Cincinnati Bearcats (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) will take the long trip west as they head to Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, to take on the Colorado Buffaloes (5-2, 3-1) in a Big 12 matchup.
These teams are both still in the hunt for a potential berth in the Big 12 Championship, and this battle may go a long way toward determining who makes this game with a possible shot at the College Football Playoff.
Let's dive into my Colorado vs. Cincinnati picks, predictions and same-game parlay for college football Week 9.
Colorado vs. Cincinnati Odds
| Colorado Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-6.5 -115 | 57.5 -105o / -115u | -250 |
| Cincinnati Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+6.5 -105 | 57.5 -105o / -115u | +200 |
- Cincinnati vs. Colorado Spread: Colorado -6.5
- Cincinnati vs. Colorado Over/Under: 57.5
- Cincinnati vs. Colorado Moneyline: Colorado -250 ·Cincinnati +200
Colorado vs. Cincinnati Picks, Predictions, Same-Game Parlay
- Cincinnati +6.5
- Under 56.5
- Shedeur Sanders Under 324.5 Passing Yards
- Travis Hunter Over 92.5 Receiving Yards
Parlay Odds: +1141
Please always remember to bet responsibly. SGPs are long shots for a reason.
Cincinnati +6.5 & Under 56.5
Cincinnati’s offense has been highly efficient through the air this season, but Colorado has also been good at stopping the pass.
The Buffs rank 25th in Pass Success Rate allowed and 28th in EPA Per Pass allowed despite playing some above-average passing attacks this season.
Cincinnati is a bit one-dimensional on offense. It ranks just 111th in Rushing Success Rate, so it'll will need to rely heavily on Brendan Sorsby to put points on the board.
Soresby is averaging 0.22 EPA Per Dropback this season, and Cincinnati ranks eighth in Pass Success Rate, so I think this will be enough to keep Cincinnati in the game.
I think both teams will still put a modest amount of points on the board in this matchup, but this will play out as a close game with both Cincinnati and the under being in play.
Both defenses are more than capable of keeping the other offense in check, and I think they will be the units that shine most in this matchup.
Shedeur Sanders Under 324.5 Passing Yards
Cincinnati’s defense has been a poor unit overall this season, ranking 94th in Success Rate allowed. Its main issue, however, has been its rushing defense, which ranks 112th in Rush Success Rate allowed.
Colorado runs the ball only 23 times per game, which ranks 130th in FBS, so this likely won’t be as big of an issue for the Bearcats in this matchup.
When it comes to defending the pass, Cincinnati ranks 23rd in PFF Coverage grade and 66th in PFF Pass Rushing grade this year.
The Buffaloes haven't faced a team this good in coverage this season, and Nebraska and Arizona were the only opponents that Colorado has seen with a better pass rush grade on the year.
The Bearcats rank 51st in Pass Success Rate allowed this season. Baylor (48th) is the only team Colorado has faced higher than this, while Kansas State and Nebraska are both within 20 spots of Cincinnati in this metric.
I think Cincinnati is one of the better passing defenses that Colorado has faced to this point in the season. Sanders has exceeded this total of 324.5 yards just twice against FBS opponents this season, needing over 50 attempts to do so both times.
I believe Shedeur's under makes for a good bet in this matchup, as I think this Cincinnati defense could hold him under 300 as long as he isn’t throwing the ball 50 times in this game.
With Cincinnati’s run defense being bad, I could see this being a reason for Colorado to go to the ground game more and take the ball out of its QB's hands.
Travis Hunter Over 92.5 Receiving Yards
While these two picks are negatively correlated, I think Cincinnati’s strong secondary will cause Sanders to lock in on Travis Hunter.
Hunter has been banged up the last couple of weeks and isn’t getting as much work, but I think head coach Deion Sanders will want to keep him in the Heisman conversation. Deion stated he'll be much more involved this week, as he's closer to 100% now.
Hunter went over 100 yards in each of his four games to begin the season. He also had 89 against UCF before only racking 26 and 17 in the last two games when he played through an injury.
At 92.5, I like taking Hunter’s over on receiving yards despite being inversely correlated with Sanders’ passing yardage total. On the bright side, FanDuel is offering increased odds on this due to the correlation.
Hunter is the No. 1 option in this offense, and I believe we’ll see Shedeur looking his way often.
