One program is trying to climb out of a five-game losing streak that saw it get outscored 200-77. The other just lost the quarterback who took it to a Big 12 title game. Both stories collide in the desert.
Bush’s Picks
COLOASU
COLOASU
OverUnder
Best BetArizona State
Arizona State enters this one with the sturdier program — an 8-5 season, a bowl trip, and a coaching staff that isn't starting from scratch defensively. Colorado is still trying to prove its 2025 collapse was an aberration and not the new normal, and until Julian Lewis shows he can operate a full season behind a still-forming receiver corps, backing the Buffaloes on the road feels like a bet on hope over evidence.
Colorado
+Julian Lewis gets full control of the offense
+New OC Brennan Marion installing fresh scheme
+Transfer WR haul: Perry, Scudero, Moore Jr.
−Finished 3-9, 1-8 in Big 12 in 2025
−Outscored 200-77 over final 5 games
−Defensive line rebuilt with 12 new players
Arizona State
+Went 8-5, 6-3 Big 12, reached the Sun Bowl
+More program stability under Dillingham
+Boley has produced under high difficulty at Kentucky
−Lost starting QB Sam Leavitt to LSU via portal
−Starting QB job still unresolved past spring ball
−New starter faces standard adjustment risk
Colorado's whole season hinges on whether Julian Lewis is ready to run the show. The redshirt freshman is taking over full-time behind new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, with a retooled receiver room built through the transfer portal around Kam Perry, Danny Scudero and DeAndre Moore Jr. Arizona State's situation is murkier — Sam Leavitt bolted for LSU, and Kenny Dillingham spent the offseason auditioning replacements, with Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley the presumed favorite over Mikey Keene and true freshman Jake Fette.
Neither quarterback picture is settled business. Boley took the bulk of the first-team reps in spring ball, but ASU never named a starter and the competition was expected to roll into fall camp. Lewis, meanwhile, is still building chemistry with an almost entirely new group of pass-catchers. By the time this one kicks off in Tempe, both staffs should have a much clearer sense of who they are — which is exactly why an early season line is worth taking with a grain of salt.
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COLO Colorado
ASU Arizona State
The bigger swing factor might be defense. Colorado gutted its defensive line over the offseason, keeping only Quency Wiggins from that room and bringing in 12 new pieces, while adding portal pieces like Boo Carter and Randon Fontenette to a secondary that got shredded down the stretch last year. Arizona State enters as the more established program, coming off an 8-5 season and a Sun Bowl appearance, but replacing a quarterback who nearly delivered a Big 12 crown is no small thing.
Colorado Buffaloes
Oct 30?vs Kansas State—
Oct 16?vs Utah—
Oct 2?vs Texas Tech—
Sep 25?@ Baylor—
Sep 19?@ Northwestern—
Sep 12?vs Weber State—
Sep 3?@ Georgia Tech—
Arizona State Sun Devils
Oct 30?@ BYU—
Oct 16?@ Texas Tech—
Oct 9?vs Hawai'i—
Oct 2?vs Baylor—
Sep 19?@ Kansas—
Sep 12?@ Texas A&M—
Sep 5?vs Morgan State—
Recent form.
It's hard to overstate how far Colorado fell apart to end 2025. Deion Sanders' team finished 3-9 overall and 1-8 in Big 12 play, closing the year on a five-game skid where opponents piled up 200 points to Colorado's 77. That kind of collapse doesn't get fixed by one transfer class — it gets fixed by an offensive line holding up and a defense that can tackle in space, both of which were the root problems a year ago.
Colorado Buffaloes
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Arizona State Sun Devils
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Arizona State isn't walking in unscathed either. Losing Leavitt to the portal strips out the engine of last season's run, and however well Boley throws it in camp, there's a real adjustment period anytime a new starter takes over a Power 4 offense. Still, Dillingham's program has stability Sanders' doesn't right now, and that gap in institutional footing is the whole story of this matchup heading toward November.
