The North Dakota State Bison and the Colorado Buffaloes play in a college football Week 1 game on Thursday, Aug. 29, in Boulder, Colorado.

Which team will win the game?

Check out these picks and predictions for the game, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. MST and can be seen on ESPN (stream with this free trial from FUBO).

Colorado is coming off a 4-8 season. North Dakota State went 11-4 last season.

Colorado is a 9.5-point favorite in the game, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

The Buffaloes are -350 on the moneyline. The Bison are +270.

The over/under for the game is set at 59.5 points.

ESPN: Colorado has a 71.3% chance to beat North Dakota State

The site gives the Bison a 28.7% shot at defeating Colorado in Thursday’s game.

Sports Chat Place: Bet North Dakota State with the points vs Colorado

Shane Mickle writes: “Give me North Dakota State here and give me on the money line. College football is a team game, and NDSU is the best team. Sure, Colorado might have the better individual players, but I don’t think the Colorado defense is going to be making many stops in this game. This is an elite NDSU run offense, and they are going to have no issue running up the score here. This Colorado offense will have a couple of bad turnovers and NDSU is going to pull it out late. Back North Dakota State against the spread.”

When does college football start in AZ? First games for ASU, Arizona, NAU this week

Troy Perlowitz writes: “Yes, North Dakota State is not like other FCS programs. Yes, Colorado is probably still a work in progress in terms of competing for national championships. But the elite talent level — especially on offense — should favor Colorado significantly.”

Matthew Postins writes: “Yep, I’ll take the underdog. Look — I’ve seen the Bison in person plenty of times. When one perceives they’re “down,” trust me — they’re not. Hostile environments don’t intimidate them in the slightest. Sanders acknowledged that he knew a challenge was coming when he talked about NDSU during Big 12 Media Days. The Bison aren’t sneaking up on the Buffaloes. But their style of offense can shorten a game and neutralize Colorado’s big-play offense.”

Read more: Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders says Arizona State football stadium is favorite place to play

Pick Dawgz: Take North Dakota State with the points against Colorado

Randy Chambers writes: “The Colorado Buffaloes are getting the benefit of the doubt for obvious reasons and are the more talented team. You’re rarely going to get an FCS team favored over an FBS team. However, there’s a lot of roster turnover with Colorado, especially on the offensive line and on defense. It’s going to take time for Colorado to really get rolling. Also, the North Dakota State Bison are the best FCS program by a long shot, with 9 titles since 2011. North Dakota State is the Alabama of the FCS ranks and certainly will not enter this game intimidated. In fact, I guarantee North Dakota State believes it can win this game outright. This is a dangerous game for Colorado. Give me North Dakota State and the points.”

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Colorado kicks off its 2024 season with a home game against North Dakota State on Thursday night, in coach Deion Sanders’ second season at the helm of the Buffaloes football program.

The game starts at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Fans looking to watch this college football bowl game can do so for free on fuboTV, which offers a free trial (as well as RedZone, for you NFL fans) or on DirecTV Stream, which also offers a free trial. SlingTV has promotional offers available, as well.

• WATCH THE GAME FOR FREE HERE

North Dakota State lost just three games last regular season and then fell to Montana in the semifinals.

Who: Colorado vs. North Dakota State

When: 8 p.m. ET, Aug. 29

Where: Folsom Field

Stream: fuboTV (free trial); or Sling; or DirecTV Stream

Tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek and VividSeats

Gear: Shop around for jerseys, shirts, hats, hoodies and more at Fanatics.com

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Deion Sanders’ quest to keep negativity out of Colorado’s program includes shutting out columnist

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders is adamant about keeping negativity out of his life and his football program at Colorado. He even had a newspaper columnist barred from asking questions at football-related events over what he deemed as pessimistic coverage.

For Sanders, it’s been a summer filled with integrating a new offensive line and two new coordinators, and squabbling with the media. As he prepared for the Buffaloes’ season opener against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, the second-year Colorado coach was asked Saturday if he ever felt persecuted “by outside noise.”

“This is a way of life for me,” Sanders said. “You guys act like this is the first time I’ve been shot at, I’ve been lied on, cheated, talked about, mistreated. That’s a gospel song, ain’t it?”

A confrontational few weeks with the media culminated Friday when the university announced that Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler was banned indefinitely from asking questions at football events.

The school cited “a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program.”

One of the headlines on Keeler’s columns in recent weeks was “Deion Sanders is a false prophet. CU Buffs? College Football Playoffs? I’ll have what Coach Prime’s smoking.”

Sanders engaged in a combative news conference on Aug. 9, when he sparred with Keeler after accusing him of always attacking his program. Keeler suggested they meet in private to discuss the matter and Sanders agreed but said he wouldn’t allow him to ask any questions at the news conference.

Keeler’s column the next day began with the headline: “Deion Sanders, 4-8 coach, gave a 3-9 news conference. Coach Prime showed CU Buffs fans a four-letter side they hadn’t seen before: Fear.”

Keeler was in attendance Saturday but wasn’t given an opportunity with the microphone when Sanders fielded questions, nor when three of his players followed.

Keeler’s situation wasn’t specifically addressed during Sanders’ congenial 23-minute availability, but there were undertones. Asked if he tries to block out critics or whether he uses it as fuel, Sanders replied: “I’ve never read an article or a comment and said, ‘Oh, that’s going to make me go harder.’ I’m going to go hard regardless.”

Sanders’ contract with Colorado contains a clause that gives him leeway in dealing with the media. It states that his duties include “professional and consistent interaction with mutually agreed upon members of the media and the public (print, radio, television, internet and other media outlets), including access, and coordinating effectively with the Athletics Department and University communications staff.”

The university said Keeler “is still permitted to attend football-related activities as a credentialed member of the media and other reporters from the Denver Post are welcome to ask questions of football program personnel made available to the media, including coaches, players, and staff.”

In 2021, a reporter from the Mississippi Clarion Ledger was barred from covering Sanders’ Jackson State team at the Southwestern Athletic Conference media day after writing a story involving a domestic violence charge against a recruit.

On Saturday, Sanders said a question with a negative tone “lets me know where you stand.”

“As I mature, instead of shooting back or lashing out or just dismissing you, I want to know why?” Sanders said. “Let’s help each other. Let’s figure out the why. Because, if you understand the why in people that helps you tremendously.”

Sanders, who went 4-8 in his first season, declined to specify his goals for 2024 as the Buffaloes return to the Big 12 Conference.

“I want to win,” Sanders said. “Certainly, you’ve got to be an idiot if you don’t want to win in life, or you don’t want to win as a coach. That’s just stupidity if you don’t want to do that. So that’s necessary that I say those type of things, but I expect to do some amazing things. Will I share those things that we expect? No.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this article

The Colorado Buffaloes and North Dakota State Bison meet in week 1 college football action from Folsolm Field on Thursday. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Colorado vs North Dakota State Prediction.

Can Colorado Avoid the Upset?

Deion Sanders has made sure that Colorado has been the talking point of college football this offseason, but all of that doesn’t matter if they lose this game. If they lose this game, there are going to be some early grumblings about if this team is led by the right coach. Under center for Colorado is Shedeur Sanders, and he is one of the better quarterbacks in college football. At times last season, the line didn’t protect him, but the hope is this year will be different. The running back room looks a whole lot different but Ohio State Buckeyes transfer Dallan Hayden is going to a ton of opportunities and out wide it’s all about Jimmy Ward and Travis Hunter who both could be All-Americans this season.

On defense is where, Colorado also hopes to take a big step forward. The star of the show is Travis Hunter, but he is going to need some help from the others. Shilo Sanders and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig are back in the secondary, and both have a ton of pressure on them. 

Can NDSU Pull off the Upset?

Normally, Power Five teams don’t schedule NDSU because they are afraid of the upset, and this NDUS team feels they can do that. Last year, NDSU finished with an 11-4 record before losing in the FCS semifinal. NDSU has a lot of their talent back from last season, but also lost a few key pieces. Three of the starters on the offensive line are gone, and with a team that is usually built on a strong offensive line, that could be a major problem. The quarterback duo of Cam Miller and Cole Payton are back, though, and both can be expected to have big games here. Last season, the Bison averaged 237.3 yards per game on the ground, and a lot of that comes with the quarterback play. 

On defense this is a veteran-led team and the pressure is going to be on the defense to be good here. The top four tacklers from last year’s team are back, and in this game they need to try and create a couple of turnovers. If they can create that, they are going to be in good shape to be competitive here. 

Why North Dakota State Will Beat Colorado

• Colorado has lost eight of its last nine games.
• The underdog has covered the spread in five of Colorado’s last six games.
• Colorado has failed to cover the spread in four of its last five games against non-FBS teams.

Colorado vs North Dakota State Prediction

Give me North Dakota State here and give me on the money line. College football is a team game, and NDSU is the best team. Sure, Colorado might have the better individual players, but I don’t think the Colorado defense is going to be making many stops in this game. This is an elite NDSU run offense, and they are going to have no issue running up the score here. This Colorado offense will have a couple of bad turnovers and NDSU is going to pull it out late. Back North Dakota State against the spread.