There is no doubt that Coach Deion Sanders made Colorado football relevant again, and he is a big reason why the Buffaloes found a nice landing spot in the Big 12 when the Pac-12 was first imploding. But there's also no doubt that the shine is off Sanders' on-field product, and the Hall of Famer enters 2026 on a bit of a hot seat. So, let's take a look at what to expect from CU this season, and once again Sanders' popularity seems to have completely brainwashed bettors.
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In his first Colorado coaching season without his two superstars -- son and quarterback Shedeur Sanders and dual-threat receiver/cornerback and 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter -- Deion's Buffaloes slipped to 3-9 last year, ending on a five-game skid. They went 1-8 in the Big 12. CU finished No. 112 in the country in total offense and 121st in total defense. That after going 9-4 in 2024, and the six-win decrease is the largest year-over-year at Colorado since a seven-win swing from 1961-62.
Deion is now 9-18 vs. Big 12 competition, and seven of those wins came in the 2024 campaign, when Shedeur and Hunter were at the height of their powers. That season, CU averaged 30.9 points per game and allowed 23.1. Last year, it scored 20.9 points per and gave up 30.5.
That 20.9 PPG average was second-worst in the Big 12, as was Colorado's total offense average (328.4 YPG) and offensive three-and-out percentage (25.35). CU was one of five teams in the country without a player to accumulate even 400 yards rushing. And defensively, the Buffs allowed the third-most rushing yards per game in FBS (222.5) and had the eighth-lowest sack percentage (3.9) of opposing quarterbacks.
Thus perhaps it's a not a bad thing that only five starters return, with Deion holding the No. 55 composite incoming class via sister site 247 Sports: No. 23 transfer class and No. 67 recruiting group. A whopping 66 total new players as well as new offensive and defensive coordinators. No players named on a preseason All-Big 12 team. That doesn't sound all that promising, yet the Deion Effect is in full force at BetMGM.
At Over/Under 4.5 wins, no team is taking more Over win total tickets than Colorado is at the book, and only Oklahoma is taking a bigger lean nationally on Over wins via handle. In addition, it is more exposed on CU at +8000 to win the Big 12 than it is on any other power conference school to capture its league (at 20.5% of handle and 11.5% of tickets). I honestly don't get it. ESPN's SP+ has Colorado finishing with 4.6 victories.
Sanders doesn't know his quarterback yet, with a competition between redshirt freshman Julian Lewis and transfer redshirt sophomore Isaac Wilson – neither offers much as a runner and both are +40000 for the Heisman. Lewis played in four games last year and threw for 589 yards and four scores. Wilson played 10 career games at Utah, with seven starts, and threw for a total of 1,510 yards with 10 TDs and 11 interceptions. His older brother is former BYU star QB Zach Wilson, the one-time No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Whichever QB wins the job will be throwing to the nation's leading receiver from 2025 in Danny Scudero, who had 88 catches for 1,291 yards and 10 touchdowns last year with San Jose State. Brennan Marion is CU's new offensive coordinator, coming from Sacramento State. His teams had high-powered rushing attacks there and in his previous stint at UNLV.
It's about impossible to judge strength of schedule in college football, but Phil Steele ranks Colorado's as the 45th-toughest (about what ESPN SP+ has). Last year's Buffs avoided two of the Big 12's best teams in Texas Tech and Arizona State, but both are on this year's slate. So are Utah, Kansas State and Houston, but all visit Boulder. BYU is not on the schedule.
The non-conference slate features trips to Georgia Tech (Jackets are -7) and Northwestern and a home "scrimmage" vs. Weber State. Is all the optimism warranted on Over 4.5 wins? I say four victories – and exactly four is priced +425 at DraftKings. You can also get Colorado head-to-head at +0.5 wins (-120) against Bill Belichick and North Carolina -0.5 (-110). I'm assuming the book is simply pairing the two Hall of Famers on that matchup.
CU's Big 12-only win total is 2.5. To reach the College Football Playoff for the first time, the Buffs are +9000, and they are +11000 long shots to win the Big 12 title game.
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