← Matchups

Northern Colorado

· 0-3 (0-1) · power -10.0 · #295
Our numberSUU -10.0 no book has priced this game

Southern Utah

· 1-2 · power -2.6 · #211
Our side
MoneylineSUU to win ours 73%
Projected score 24–34 UNCO – SUU
2026-11-07 · 3:00 PM Eccles Coliseum · Cedar City, UT Early season

The books

No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.

Series Southern Utah and Northern Colorado split 8 (4–4) · 8 meetings since 2003
2025 unit ranks — last completed season, from games actually played
Run game even 37 ranks apart
Northern Colorado Bears #216 rush offense Southern Utah Thunderbirds #253 run defense
Pass game edge Southern Utah Thunderbirds 73 ranks
Northern Colorado Bears #196 pass offense Southern Utah Thunderbirds #123 pass defense
Run game edge Southern Utah Thunderbirds 157 ranks
Southern Utah Thunderbirds #37 rush offense Northern Colorado Bears #194 run defense
Pass game even 35 ranks apart
Southern Utah Thunderbirds #67 pass offense Northern Colorado Bears #102 pass defense
Northern Colorado Bears Balanced · 52% run Avg pace Southern Utah Thunderbirds Run-heavy · 59% run Avg pace

Ranked by team-unit strength (rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265 D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the 2025 season.

The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above

Who carried each team in 2025
Northern Colorado Bears
DB Franky Morales 18 tkl · 2 PD · 1 INT #91 DB
DL Dominic Butts 10 tkl · 4.0 TFL #122 DL
DL Blake Weslin 8 tkl · 1.0 TFL #192 DL
DL Ezra Ekuban 6 tkl · 1.0 sacks · 3.0 TFL #226 DL
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
DB Parker Vance 18 tkl · 4 PD · 3 INT #4 DB
TE Joshua Acord 11 rec · 128 yds · 3 TD #3 TE
RB Floyd Chalk 427 rush yds · 6 TD · 4 rec #6 RB
DL Myles Amey 9 tkl · 2.5 sacks · 3.5 TFL #103 DL

Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no 2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.

Power breakdown
TeamPowerOffDefRank
Northern Colorado Bears -10.0 -8.0 -2.0 #295
Southern Utah Thunderbirds -2.6 +4.0 -6.5 #211

Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).

Where the number comes from
Northern Colorado offense vs Southern Utah defense-1.4 pts
Southern Utah offense vs Northern Colorado defense+6.0 pts
Efficiency adjustment · EPA, success rate, explosiveness-0.5 pts
Power projection before adjustment+10.5
Travel · context onlyAway team travels 487 mi
Altitude · context only307 m higher than the visitor's home elevation
Rest · context onlyAway team on 7 more days rest

The projection carries an efficiency adjustment — a residual from season-to-date EPA, success rate and explosiveness, which earned its place by walk-forward test (margin error 12.90 → 12.72 across seven held-out seasons).

Situational spots are shown for context, not baked in: travel, altitude and rest were tested against 6,000+ games and the power and efficiency ratings already account for them. Adding them again would double-count.