Colorado vs. Nebraska score prediction by expert college football model

What the analytics predict for Colorado vs. Nebraska in this Week 2 college football game as Deion Sanders' team takes on Dylan Raiola and the Cornhuskers.

What to expect as the Nebraska Cornhuskers host the Colorado Buffaloes in college football's Week 2 action. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Deion Sanders is looking for another 2-0 start in his tenure as Colorado Buffaloes head coach as his newly-minted Big 12 team goes on the road against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in college football's Week 2 action on Saturday.

Colorado played North Dakota State close in the opener, but the Buffs offense was productive, as quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 445 yards and 4 touchdowns, three of which landed in the hands of Travis Hunter, arguably the single-best player in the college football this season.

Dylan Raiola made his Cornhuskers debut last week, scoring 2 touchdowns in the air while covering 238 yards in a promising first appearance as the school's most important 5-star recruit of the last cycle, leading an offensive effort that amassed 507 yards and 30 first downs.

What can we expect in this matchup? For that, let's turn to the SP+ prediction model as Colorado and Nebraska meet in this Big 12 vs. Big Ten game on Saturday.

Colorado vs. Nebraska prediction

The simulations favor the Cornhuskers to hold firm at home against the Buffaloes this week.

SP+ predicts that Nebraska will defeat Colorado by a projected score of 30 to 20 and to win the game by an expected 10.5 point margin.

The model gives the Huskers a strong 74 percent chance of outright victory.

SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

Point spread

Nebraska is a 7.5 point favorite against Colorado, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook, which set the total at 58.5 points for the game.

FanDuel lists the moneyline odds for Nebraska at -260 and for Colorado at +210.

If you're using this projection to bet on the game, you should take...

• Nebraska -7.5
• Huskers to win -260
• Bet under 58.5 points

Computer predictions

Other analytic models also suggest the Cornhuskers will win the game and move to 2-0.

That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.

The index projects that Nebraska will win the game in 60.1 percent of its simulations, while Colorado comes out the expected winner in the remaining 39.9 percent of sims.

The computers project that Nebraska will be just 2 points better than Colorado on the same field in both teams' current composition, not enough to cover this line.

Colorado will win 6.6 games this season, according to the index's calculations, with a 69.8 percent chance to become bowl eligible, but will not be a factor in the Big 12 title chase.

The computers project Nebraska will win 7.3 games this season and sits in 8th place among Big Ten teams to qualify for the College Football Playoff at 8.4 percent.

Colorado vs. Nebraska game time, schedule

When: Sat., Sept. 7
Time: 6:30 p.m. Central
TV: NBC network

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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