Colorado football is set to return to the Big 12 in 2024 with heightened expectations and a revitalized roster. Head coach Deion Sanders is preparing to capitalize on a significant influx of talent, with 41 transfers and six high school signees joining the squad. This influx provides an opportunity to improve upon last season’s 4-8 record and establish a stronger presence in the competitive Big 12 conference.

The release of the Big 12’s 2024 schedule has highlighted several pivotal matchups that could determine the success of the Buffaloes’ season. However, the non-conference schedule is equally critical, featuring challenging games that will test Colorado’s readiness for Big 12 play. Notably, the Week 1 game against North Dakota State (NDSU) stands out as a potential trap game that the Buffaloes cannot afford to underestimate.

Betting odds reflect the high interest in this matchup, with 82 percent of bets favoring Colorado, according to BetMGM. Despite Colorado being favored by 8.5 points, the narrow margin indicates a level of respect for NDSU’s capabilities. The Bison, although an FCS team, have a storied history of success, having won nine national championships since 2011, including two of the last five. Even with the departure of head coach Matt Entz, NDSU remains a formidable opponent under new head coach Tom Polasek.

The Buffaloes’ modest favor by just a touchdown at home underscores the challenge posed by NDSU. Polasek, formerly Wyoming’s offensive coordinator, brings a wealth of experience and a winning mentality to the Bison. The uncertainty surrounding NDSU’s starting quarterback adds intrigue, with Cam Miller’s potential return for a graduate year hanging in the balance. Miller’s impressive performance last season, with 32 total touchdowns and only four interceptions, makes him a critical factor. Additionally, wide receiver Eli Green, who averaged nearly 20 yards per catch in 2023, poses a significant threat to Colorado’s secondary.

Coach Sanders is acutely aware of the threat NDSU poses, emphasizing the need for his team to remain focused and prepared. “Don’t underestimate North Dakota State,” Sanders stated on FS1’s Undisputed. “Those guys come to play and they can play.” As the season approaches, Sanders and his squad will need to channel their motivation and talent to navigate both their non-conference and Big 12 schedules successfully.

MILWAUKEE — Serving as North Dakota governor under former President Donald Trump was like having “a beautiful breeze at our back,” Doug Burgum said Wednesday, July 17, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The GOP governor, who was considered a top contender to be Trump’s vice president, contrasted that to President Joe Biden, saying being governor during the Democrat’s administration was like “a gale force wind in our face.”

“Biden’s war on energy hurts every American because the cost of energy is in everything that we use or touch every day,” Burgum said.

The governor took to the stage Wednesday night at the Fiserv Forum during the third day of the RNC. The governor from the second top-producing oil state in the U.S. criticized Biden’s policies on energy, claiming they have raised the price of gas, food, clothes and rent.

“Biden’s green agenda feels like it was written by China, Russia and Iran,” Burgum said.

Burgum was passed up on Monday as Trump’s vice president pick for U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, though there is speculation the North Dakotan could be a part of Trump’s administration.

The governor has spent time campaigning for Trump and looks to continue that. Burgum praised Trump as a friend of energy and a champion of innovation over regulation.

“Unleashing American energy dominance is our path back to prosperity and peace through strength,” Burgum said. “Teddy Roosevelt encouraged America to speak softly and carry a big stick. Energy dominance will be the big stick that President Trump will carry.”

Burgum joked that the last time he was in Milwaukee, he had to stand on one leg behind a podium for the first Republican presidential debate for the 2024 election. The night before the August debate, which was also held in the Fiserv, Burgum tore his Achilles tendon during a pickup basketball game, sending him to the emergency room and putting him in a walking boot.

During the speech, he asked who would make America energy dominant, to which the crowd yelled twice, “Trump!”

On the third time, he asked the crowd to yell it loud enough to wake Biden up, an insult playing into reports that the Democrat is a 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. president and is in cognitive decline. The crowd replied “Trump” loudly.

“When Trump unleashes American energy, we unleash American prosperity and we ensure our national security,” Burgum said

Burgum, who is from the small town of Arthur, North Dakota, also said rural America and small towns feed, fuel and defend the world.

“Rural America is Trump country,” Burgum said.

In a statement issued after the speech, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Chair Adam Goldwyn called Burgum “a billionaire cosplaying as a cowboy with an undirected Carhartt.”

“Burgum signed one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, and that is wreaking havoc on North Dakotan women,” Goldwyn said. “After supporting bills to promote equality in North Dakota, he threw LGBTQ folks under the bus when he signed laws that discriminate against them. Will Burgum finally return to North Dakota now, or will he continue to neglect his gubernatorial duties? Either way his time in the national spotlight is over and he is no longer a ‘top priority.’”

Trump secured the Republican nomination for president. He is expected to face Biden in the general election.

MINOT — Sandi Sanford, chair of the North Dakota Republican Party, joined this episode of Plain Talk from the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee, where, she said, “the security plan changed drastically” after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Republicans have been focused on unity at this event — two of Trump’s top rivals during the primaries, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador Nikki Haley, endorsed him in speeches at the convention — but Sanford acknowledged to my co-host Chad Oban and me that this may be a heavy lift.

“People know that what we’re dealing with in North Dakota with the different factions,” she said, initially calling the populist wing of the party the “far right” before correcting herself and describing them as “grassroots.”

The NDGOP delegation to the national convention

wasn’t necessarily behind Gov. Doug Burgum potentially being Trump’s running mate

(Burgum himself was passed over for a delegate slot by the NDGOP’s state convention), but Sanford said she felt the delegates were “really confident in Donald Trump and his pick.”

“It gets dicey,” she said of intraparty politics. “It can get cruel,” but Sanford said her job is to keep the factions united. “I’m bringing people together.”

Sanford also addressed a visit to the North Dakota delegation from Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union (the organization which puts on the Conservative Political Action Conference). In March, Schlapp paid

a nearly half-million settlement

to a man he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward. “My delegation wanted to hear from CPAC,” she said, adding that Schlapp was “on a speaking circle” addressing several state delegations.

Also on this episode, we discuss how the assassination attempt on Trump might impact the rest of this presidential election cycle and whether Democrats will replace incumbent President Joe Biden.

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