The 2020 college football season will undoubtedly include a series of lumps for the Colorado State Rams as the team tries to rebound from a rough 2019 campaign.
But with a new coaching staff and bolstered recruiting efforts comes the promise of better days ahead.
Yet to be seen is whether that promise will be fulfilled, catapulting the Rams to the top of the Mountain West Conference, or another example of unfulfilled expectations.
What do the sportsbooks say about the Rams?
Colorado State has yet to emerge as a real option for futures bettors.
DraftKings, for instance, does not yet offer Mountain West Conference futures and does not include the Rams as part of its list of potential national championship victors.
FanDuel also doesn’t offer Mountain West futures. It does, however, list Colorado State’s odds to win it all: at +200000. Those odds match schools like Louisiana Tech and Utah State and are longer than Army and East Carolina.
BetAmerica, meanwhile, lists the Rams at +100000 to win the national championship, the longest odds the sportsbook has attached to any team. Also with the Rams at +100000 is BetMGM.
Unsurprisingly, Boise State sports the Mountain West’s best odds (+20000 on FanDuel).
Colorado State’s place among the NCAA’s also-rans can be traced back to its 4-8 record in 2019, which included a 3-5 conference record and a season-ending three-game losing streak. That followed a 3-9 campaign in 2018.
The team will host intrastate rival Colorado to kick off its season on Sept. 5, welcoming a Buffaloes team that itself ranks at the bottom of the Pac-12 in offseason forecasts.
Season represents a fresh start for CSU
Despite the likely lack of action set to be placed on Colorado State prior to the 2020 college football season, the upcoming slate is the start of a new era for Rams football.
The university hired Steve Addazio, a former coach at Boston College and Temple, as its new head coach in December. He replaced previous coach Mike Bobo, who left Colorado State with a 28-35 record after five seasons.
For Addazio, the hiring followed his dismissal from Boston College in late 2019 following seven years at the helm.
Colorado State appeared to jump at the chance to hire Addazio, who has an overall 57-55 record as a Division 1 head coach.
The candidate search that ended in his hire included names like Butch Jones and Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and was reportedly even assisted by former Colorado State assistant and Addazio’s Florida colleague Urban Meyer, according to ESPN.
Talent coming to Fort Collins
Colorado State fans may be justified in their optimism if the team’s recruiting pool strengthens under Addazio.
247Sports ranks the Rams third in the Mountain West with its 2020 class, but projects a first-place recruiting class in 2021. The website ranks the 2020 class 102nd in the country, but it projects a 65th-best class the following year.
The rankings come after Addazio, fresh on the trail, received 10 letters of intent in December and signed another 10 in early February.
The 2020 class includes three-star players like running back Kyjuan Herndon, defensive tackle James Mitchell and offensive linemen Owen Snively and Dirk Nelson. Committed in the 2021 class is three-star quarterback Luke McAllister.