Colorado is winning – and doing so in a way nobody expected

Deion Sanders and the Buffs are 6-2 and bowl eligible. How did they get so much better? And why does it feel like they're improbably flying under the radar?

Before we get things going, I’d be remiss to not at least acknowledge the stunning and tragic death of South Florida men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who passed away last Thursday from complications from a medical procedure.

If you’re looking for some excellent tributes to a rising star in the coaching profession – and, far more importantly, someone who seemed to embody all the traits you’d want in a college basketball coach – I’d recommend Kyle Kensing’s piece wrote over at The Press Break and Ken Segiura’s column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I’ve only ever asked Deion Sanders a question once, but it was hard to forget his answer.

Early in Aug. 2023, when I was still doing freelance work for a Colorado website and Sanders was in the final stages of preparation for the upcoming football season, I asked him during his first press conference of fall camp what his expectations were for his team. Oddsmakers weren’t particularly high on the squad he had assembled, with a projected over/under of 3.5 wins. The Pac-12 media wasn’t much more confident, picking them to finish 11th of 12 teams (they ended up finishing 12th, so maybe they were actually too confident.)

None of that mattered, though. I wanted to know what he thought. He didn’t disappoint.

“To win,” he said. “To win. To win, develop, get these guys to the next level and have them be men, not boys. That’s my expectation and we’re gonna eclipse that. We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win. I wish I could say it in several different languages, but we’re gonna win.”

One language was good enough. Nearly 15 months later, it turns out he was right.

With a 34-23 victory last Saturday against Cincinnati, Colorado improved to 6-2 and became bowl eligible in a full season for the first time since 2016. Given what Sanders took over, it’s an impressive feat on its own. The Buffs trotted out what might arguably have been the worst Power Five team in recent memory the season before Sanders arrived, going 1-11 in 2022, with only one of those 11 losses coming by fewer than 23 points. They improved in 2023, Sanders’ first season, by going 4-8, but eight losses in their final nine games showed there was still quite a bit of work to be done.

Bowl eligibility could just be the start, too. Colorado is tied for third place in the Big 12 standings with a 4-1 record in conference play. With a manageable final four games of their regular season, with only one remaining contest against a team currently with a winning record, it’s quite conceivable that the Buffs go 9-3 or even 10-2. Either mark may be good enough to get them into the Big 12 championship game, where they’d compete for a guaranteed spot in the College Football Playoff.

It might be a bit far-fetched – assuming a college football team, especially one with noticeable flaws like Colorado, will go undefeated against any group of opponents is foolish – but the fact we’re even having this conversation headed into November is a testament to what Sanders, his players and his staff have managed to pull off two-thirds of the way through the regular season.

How has it happened, that a team that looked so thoroughly beaten down 11 months ago now looks like a competent and, dare I say, unquestionably good outfit?

Let’s take a look at some of the ways:

They’ve gotten a little lucky

We’ll get the more cynical interpretation of events out of the way first.