Breaking Down Projected Point Spreads For The 2012 Buffaloes

When suffering through the long, torturous college football offseason, we yearn for more previews, predictions and analysis then one could ever get their hands on. Such is the life of a die-hard fan. As gambling and point spreads creep more and more into the common fans' discussions of the sport, we now have increased access to what the smartest people (Vegas) in the game think, and odds can usually get us more insight into a game than any ESPN talking head ever could.

Beyond the Bets has answered the call by putting together point spreads for the entire 2012-13 season. Now keep in mind, these aren't true odds from the bookmakers, but they're fun to look at anyways. On an even more legit note, the Golden Nugget has released true lines for the first week of the season and for the full season for some nationally ranked teams. You can actually bet on these numbers today (accounting for any movement since their release).

Let's take a look at the odds and see how close BtB got it and where the Buffs may stand.

Beyond the Bets: Colorado St. Rams vs. Colorado Buffaloes -7
Golden Nugget: Colorado St. Rams vs. Colorado -6.5

Predictions for the full CU 2012 schedule after the jump!

Colorado at Fresno State Bulldogs -4
Colorado at Washington St. Cougars -11
UCLA Bruins -4.5 at Colorado
Arizona St. Sun Devils at Colorado -1.5

Beyond the Bets: Colorado at USC Trojans -31.5
Golden Nugget: Colorado at USC Trojans - 34

Colorado at Oregon Ducks -31
Stanford Cardinal -14.5 at Colorado
Colorado at Arizona Wildcats -6
Washington Huskies -10.5 at Colorado
Utah Utes -10 at Colorado

Analysis: Looking at the two instances where we can compare BtB's projected lines with actual lines released by the Nugget shows that they at least did a decent job. They almost hit CSU exactly, although that's probably very close to where I would have put it as well. The fact that the USC line was even higher than BtB's projected is a little scary, considering I thought a few of the others were a bit slanted towards the opposition.

The Fresno State line should serve as a reminder that going into Fresno and getting a win will be no easy task, new head coach or not. Don't forget that if it were not for the improbable win over Utah at the end of last season we'd still be staring a huge road losing streak in the face. Washington State looks a little high, but I imagine that game will hinge very heavily upon the outcome of the game against Fresno State. Win and that number comes down. Lose and it should be pretty close to that 11.

Outside of Sacramento State (not listed) and CSU, Arizona State gets the only other underdog status against the Buffs this season, and it's not by much.

Are these numbers about where everyone expected to be? What lines look a bit off to you?