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Colorado Buffaloes 2013 NCAA Football Gambling Odds & Predictions

2013-14 Football Previews — (Pac-12) — Buffaloes

The 2012-13 Colorado Buffaloes were one of the worst teams in all of college football, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that. Head coach Jon Embree led his team to a 1-11 season, and as a result, he saw himself kicked to the curb when the year finally came to an end.

2013 Preview: Colorado Buffaloes (Team Link)
Coach: Mike MacIntyre
2012 Record: 1-11
UW Gambling Odds from Bovada.lv: +2030 (Field)

Now the team is under the control of former San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre. The first-year head coach is coming off of a successful stint with the Spartans. In 2010, the team went just 1-12. However, that record improved every year along the way, and he put together a 10-2 season last year.

Needless to say, fans in Colorado are hoping that the new guy in town can spark the same kind of turnaround for the Buffaloes. The team hasn’t had a winning season since 2005, and while being in the Pac-12 is never easy, 2013 is bound to feel like a fresh start under brand new leadership.

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If you had to sum up Colorado’s 2012 campaign, all you’d have to do is look at two major categories: points scored and points allowed. On offense, the Buffaloes scored just 17.8 points per game, ranking them 120th in the nation. But as bad as that was, their defense allowed 46 points per contest, which was the second-worst number in the entire FBS.

On offense, look for the return of Paul Richardson to make a difference. The junior receiver sat out the entire 2012 season with an ACL tear, and his ability to stretch the field was sorely missed. He’s not going to get them to a winning season on his own, but as one of the best players on that side of the ball, he’s going to be a difference maker, as the team was just 99th in the country in passing yards a year ago.

On the defensive side, look for senior defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe to be the man. Again, he’s not the kind of player who can turn this entire abysmal squad around on his own, but he’s going to be a breath of fresh air to watch compared to any other spot on defense. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

While Richardson and Uzo-Diribe may be the team’s best players respectively on their sides of the ball, the team’s record at the end of the day should come down to the play of quarterback Connor Wood. He needs to be able to get the ball to Richardson on a regular basis, but he also must show enough competency to move the ball around the field when his No. 1 target is inevitably covered.

Success for this team isn’t going to come easily, and it’s not going to have the same definition as other programs in the conference. The Buffaloes aren’t going to compete for a Pac-12 title, and finally going better than .500 could be a tougher task most make it out to be. Staying competitive is going to be a moral victory for this group, as they were beaten by an average of 28.2 points per game last season.

When looking at the schedule, it’s easy to see how this group could go in to conference play with a winning record. Colorado State and Central Arkansas aren’t the fiercest of opponents, but then again, this is the team that fell to both Colorado State and Sacramento State in the first two games last year.

Don’t be surprised if Colorado competes at a higher level than they did in 2012, but with the bar being set extremely low, don’t hold your breath on them taking down any major opponents at this point in the process.

2013 Buffaloes Schedule:

Sun, Sept. 1 vs. Colorado St*
Sat, Sept. 7 vs. Central Arkansas
Sat, Sept. 14 vs. Fresno State
Sat, Sept. 28 @ Oregon State
Sat, Oct. 5 vs. Oregon
Sat, Oct. 12 @ Arizona State
Sat, Oct. 26 vs. Arizona
Sat, Nov. 2 @ UCLA
Sat, Nov. 9 @ Washington
Sat, Nov. 16 vs. California
Sat, Nov. 23 vs. USC
Sat, Nov. 30 @ Utah
*Game played at neutral location

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Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"