The Washington State Cougars finished last season with a record of 7-6 overall and a record of 4-5 in the Pac-12 which led to a 7^th place finish in the Pac-12 Conference and the Cougars making a bowl game for the 2^nd consecutive season with an appearance in the LA Bowl against the Fresno State Bulldogs which resulted in a 6-29 loss for the Washington State Cougars. Washington State will have a new Offensive and Defensive Coordinator with the hiring of Ben Arbuckle as the new Offensive Coordinator and Jeff Schmedding as the new Defensive Coordinator. 

Arbuckle most recently served as the Co-Offensive Coordinator for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers last season while Schmedding most recently served as the Defensive Coordinator for the Auburn Tigers last season. This season, the Washington State Cougars enter the year with an over/under win total of 6 wins which means the Cougars are projected to be a bowl-eligible team for the 3^rd consecutive season and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 7^th best team in the Pac-12 behind the USC Trojans, Oregon Ducks, Washington Huskies, Utah Utes, Oregon State Beavers, and UCLA Bruins.

Colorado State finished the 2022 college football season with a record of 3-9 and a Mountain West record of 3-5 which led to a 5^th place finish in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West and the Rams missing a bowl game 5^th consecutive season. This season, the Colorado State Rams enter the season with an over/under win total of 4.5 wins which means the Rams are projected to miss a bowl game for the 6^th consecutive year and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 7^th best team in the Mountain West finishing behind the Boise State Broncos, Fresno State Bulldogs, Air Force Falcons, San Diego State Aztecs, Wyoming Cowboys, and San Jose State Spartans.

BookMaker has the Washington State Huskies listed as 10.5-point favorites on the road against the Colorado State Rams on Saturday evening in week 1 of the college football season. These teams have played each other twice before this matchup with the teams splitting the contests 1-1 while both going 1-1 ATS in those contests with the most recent game occurring last season that resulted in a 38-7 win for the Washington State Cougars as well as the Cougars covering the spread as a 17-point favorite at home. Washington State finished last season with a record of 8-5 ATS overall, 3-2 ATS on the road, and 5-1 ATS as a favorite while Colorado State finished 6-6 ATS overall, 3-3 ATS at home, and 5-4 ATS as an underdog.

Washington State is the more talented team entering the season and is projected to finish with a better record as they enter the season with an over/under win total of 6 wins while Colorado State enters with an over/under win total of 4.5 wins. The Cougars should be a bigger favorite in this matchup than they are listed as being on BookMaker. As a result, I am buying the .5 point and taking the Washington State Huskies -10 on BookMaker for this matchup on Saturday evening.