(Written by kencraw)

In my preseason prediction I indicated that the Buffaloes were in a free-fall and I expected the Bears to win easily 35-13. But now they’ve played a game and handily beat Colorado State 24-3. You’d think that would make me a bit more hesitant, but it doesn’t.

When you look inside the numbers of their win over Colorado State, they didn’t dominate. 3 turnovers by CSU aided the CU win. CU only had just over 300 yards and they gave up 200 yards passing to an anemic CSU offense. It bears repeating, Colorado State was only 3-9 in 2009, losing to teams like Idaho, Wyoming and New Mexico (yes, the same New Mexico that just got blown out 72-0 by the Oregon Ducks).

I just don’t see Colorado as having performed all that well last week.

So what are the strengths of Colorado? Well, they’ve finally put aside the coach’s son as the starting QB for starters. That definitely had some positive affect for them last week. Their corners are supposedly quite good. They also picked up a USC defector as a wide receiver who seems to have a lot of promise. But otherwise, there’s a lot of mediocre on that team.

Mediocre line play on both sides of the ball. Mediocre running game. Mediocre linebackers.

Add to this that there are few areas where I’m more optimistic about the Bears than before the season. Keenan Allen and good TE play is going to result in a better passing game. Better secondary play is going to keep Colorado’s offense in check. And there was no area I saw where the Bears had clearly taken a step back, although the defensive line might be the one area that could challenge that assertion.

But overall the point is that the Bears look better than I hoped, albeit by a little bit and Colorado looks just as weak as I suspected and in some ways even weaker just based on how impressed they are with themselves for beating Colorado State.

So I’m upping my prediction and inking it in the Pick’Em league. Bears win even bigger: 42-13