Colorado vs. Georgia Tech score prediction by expert football model

Coach Prime and Colorado get a marquee non-conference game against Georgia Tech at home in the Week 1 college football opener on Friday night. Here is the latest prediction for the matchup from an expert football model that projects scores and picks winners.

Deion Sanders heads into his third season with the Buffaloes, overseeing major roster turnover that includes the departure of his two principal playmakers, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way Heisman winner Travis Hunter.

We’ll see how Prime is able to recover from those losses and build another transfer-laden roster that includes Kaidon Salter, a veteran dual-threat quarterback who transferred to Colorado from Liberty this offseason.

Georgia Tech enjoys more continuity, as quarterback Haynes King and rusher Jamal Haynes form a decent core on offense, but have to make replacements on the line and have some turnover of its own in the defensive front.

What do the analytics suggest will happen when the Buffaloes welcome the Yellow Jackets in this Week 1 college football opener?

For that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to get a preview of how Colorado and Georgia Tech compare in the 2025 season kickoff.

Colorado vs. Georgia Tech score prediction

The model favors the home team in this non-conference matchup, but by the narrowest of all possible margins.

SP+ predicts that Colorado will defeat Georgia Tech by a projected score of 30 to 29 and to win the game by an expected margin of just 0.4 points.

The model gives the Buffaloes a narrow 51 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.”

How good was it last season? A year ago, the SP+ college football prediction model went 409-389-9 overall against the spread with a 50.9 win percentage.

--

Colorado vs. Georgia Tech odds, how to pick the game

Georgia Tech is a 4.5 point favorite against Colorado, according to the updated lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook this week.

FanDuel set the total at 52.5 points for the game (Over -105, Under -115).

And it lists the moneyline odds for Georgia Tech at -192 and for Colorado at +158 to win the game outright.

If you’re using this prediction to bet on the game, you should take ...

• Colorado +4.5
• Buffaloes to win +158
• Bet over 52.5 points

A plurality of bettors expect the Yellow Jackets will take care of business on the road against the Buffaloes, according to the latest spread consensus picks for the game.

Georgia Tech is getting 64 percent of the bets to defeat the Buffaloes by at least five points and cover the narrow point spread in the win.

The other 36 percent of wagers project Colorado will either beat the Yellow Jackets outright in an upset at home, or to lose the game by fewer than five points.

--

Computer prediction

Most other analytical football models are sticking with the Buffaloes against the Yellow Jackets in this ACC vs. Big 12 matchup.

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.

Colorado comes out ahead in the slight majority 52.7 percent of the FPI computer’s simulations of the Week 1 game.

That leaves Georgia Tech the presumptive winner in the remaining 47.3 percent of sims.

How does that translate into an expected margin of victory in the game? Expect a very close finish in Boulder.

Colorado is projected to be just 2.3 points better than Georgia Tech on the same field in both teams’ current form, according to that model’s latest forecast.

--

Colorado vs. Georgia Tech future projections

Georgia Tech debuted in the No. 39 position in the Power Index’s complete 136-team college football rankings heading into the 2025 season opener.

The model forecasts that Tech will win 7.3 games this season, matching last season’s win total for Brent Key in his fourth season at the helm.

Colorado is projected to win 6.4 games this season by the FPI computer’s metrics, a downturn from Coach Prime’s improved nine-win outing a year ago.

The model ranked the Buffaloes at the No. 48 position nationally among 136 FBS teams.

--

How to watch Georgia Tech vs. Colorado

When: Fri., Aug. 29
Where: Boulder, Colo.

Time: 8 p.m. Eastern
TV: ESPN network

--

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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