Showdown – 2 Opinions – What is going on in Colorado? Is it just hype?

I want it to be clear: I am not taking an ass-kissing stance on Deion Sanders. He’s not perfect. But I think the net-net-net impact has been good. Don’t @ me to tell me how stupid I am. I’m taking the contrarian approach to our other writer on this topic, because I think looking at this situation through two lenses is important.

Sometimes Celebrities and Pro Athletes become an almost caricature of themselves. It’s hard for me as a writer to separate myself from my fandom, so I’ll tell it like this: Coach Prime is simultaneously super interesting as a figurehead for a rebounding College football program, AND he is obnoxious in his delivery of just about everything.

I say that as a huge fan of the athlete that was PrimeTime. I also say that as a fan of Coach Prime from a recruiting perspective. I love confident people. I should finish that sentence – I love confident people who can actually deliver results. And for a program that was arguably a 2-3 win program at most prior to game 1 this NCAAF campaign, Colorado has clearly benefited from Deion Sanders. And other Sanders’ in the 23’254 season.

For me the hype is real, but not in the way that Coach Prime thinks it is. Colorado will be a recruiting powerhouse relative to what they experienced the past decade – and that, for at least the next 5 years. Even if Sander’s goes on to a bigger program, or to take the money elsewhere. I don’t feel he’s at risk of being offered the Michigan State Head Coaching job, though they could certainly use some help. Sander’s may be a “winner”, but he’s got a lot to prove if he wants to steer a legitimate football program.

Furthermore, The benefits of winning includes more donations, better fandom for students, more applications, and ultimately better overall value for just about everyone involved. Student grades are up to a historical high for the football program under Sander’s regime. Which is important. After all, maybe 3-4% of the players that come through any program on the level of Colorado, have a meaningful shot at a long career in the NFL, let alone a signing bonus or play time. There will be some, but the real value of Sander’s impact on Colorado is that there are more kids dreaming of the NFL, and dreaming of rooting for NFL caliber players at Colorado. And for that – the hype is definitely legitimate.

It’s hard to say Deion Sanders is full of crap after everything he’s put together in such a short amount of time in Boulder. Many people had Colorado as one of the stepping stones in the Pac 12 to begin the year and while they are still in a lower tier for their conference they’re miles ahead of where we, and the books in Vegas thought they would be. The hype is real, believe it but at the same time expectations should be tempered. We’ll go into it a little further down but don’t expect them to play a national championship anytime soon, there is still a lot of work to be done in Boulder.

Deion Sanders has always championed Deion Sanders. He’s odd, as a parent. He’s odd as a cult of personality, I personally see him trending more towards an even more over-the-top attitude as he sees success on the back of all his soundbytes.

But what coach doesn’t like to talk a little trash? Annoying at times: but put up and then you don’t have to shut up. He’s already equalled or gone past any expectations just about any independent thinker had about Colorado’s season performance.

He said they would do well. Then he brought in a ton of talent. He said Shadeur was good. Then the numbers came. He said that the worst that Colorado will play this season was already experienced against Oregon. The jury is still out on that one.

I’m in a holding pattern. Waiting to see. It’s hard to bet against a guy who is so damned confident, and yet, my heart, my brain, every fiber of my being says that his USC team is arguably better than Oregon, and more importantly, that there is NO WAY that Colorado wins this game on Saturday September 30th in Boulder. But I’m probably not betting on the game. It’s one of those times that I’ll gladly just watch and be entertained. And if USC puts up 50 on Colorado then I will know I was right, and be OK that I didn’t bet. And can you even imagine the outcome if Colorado wins? Every pundit everywhere, ever – will be in shambles.

I kind of like truth speaking to power. Certainly Coach Prime has a few big names in Head Coach spots ruffled. And like Oregon Coach Dan Lanning alluded to: wins happen on the field not on social media (obviously not a quote).

But I’d argue, at this point, that there is no such thing as bad press right now for Colorado. MORE ON THIS BELOW. Though, I really wish Shilo Sanders had acted with a bit more class in his trash talking.

Colorado is gaining momentum after an absolute beatdown sustained at the hands of Oregon. One might argue Colorado won that round in the long-term landscape of College Football.

No one right now remembers that Oregon thrashed Colorado – just that Colorado is still alive and kicking. Weird.

We touched on this already, but there are real world impacts. Grades are historically high for football participants. Booster activity is no-doubt soaring. Recruiting classes for Colorado are maybe at the best in the history of the school. With NIL (Name – Image – Likeness) rules, and the future of promotional and marketing efforts for athletes just finding its footing, Deion may be the best in class mentor right now. Colorado is possibly looking at a 5+ win season, which is much better than I or many others thought possible prior to the start of the season. MORE ON THAT BELOW.

To say Coach Prime hasn’t positively influenced Colorado football, would be to say you aren’t paying attention. No matter what happens, this program got their money’s worth from bringing Deion Sanders into the HC role.

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With a transfer driven system now in a much broader perspective, and with money flowing from NIL, this school is now a prime target (see what I did there?), for some of the best athletes in the Nation. Especially kids that wouldn’t have ordinarily been looked at by anyone due to poor school affiliations in H.S., lack of scouting or lack of distribution for highlight reels, etc.

This sort of Social-media-heavy, talent on showcase, ‘clip it for maximum effect’ mentality that Prime is championing, will bring in more talent to Colorado. And, you should know – probably 25 other schools too. College Football benefits from the things that have already happened – even if it is hard to stomach for some.

We already touched on this as well – but to reiterate. If you think that boosting grades, boosting coffers, and boosting recruiting success is a negative thing, you might not live in reality. Coach Prime has impacted this program for years, in months. He has shored up the sinking foundations that Colorado was seeing for the past decade or more, and he has (maybe not single-handedly), turned this into a thriving, easy to get behind program that was basically a money pit for the school the last few years at least.

Colorado is infinitely more competitive right now than they have been in many years. To say Coach Prime didn’t have the biggest effect on that is idiotic.

USC is arguably a better team than Oregon. Probably not as balanced as Oregon, but probably more capable of throwing up 50 points against a side like Colorado. I’ll basically leave it at that. I am adding general commentary to this article – not football analysis. Bennett – who is taking the opposite approach to this Coach Prime phenomenon, has forgotten more this week about college football, than I will ever know – I can leave that analysis to him.

Needless to say: There is a likely Heisman winner on that USC team. And they are likely to be a top 5 program this year from a rankings perspective. Having worked with USC at some levels in the past from a business perspective, I compliment them in general on their program – in all ways. It’s a superior program to anything that Colorado may EVER have.

A final note: For Deion’s sake, he better be right, because the haters will intensify if he isn’t. But I just cannot see how this result is not very close to the Oregon result of this past week. Colorado has MAYBE a shot at 4 wins if they get lucky in the rest of their games, but even then, I think 3 wins is maybe even a bit too generous considering the talented, well-run programs they face in the 23-24’ College Football Season. I could see the buffaloes locking another 2 wins – if they stay healthy and play smart, and Shedeur Sanders continues his trajectory.

But one of those wins will not be USC. If it is, then all bets are off. If this Colorado team beats USC by some miracle, prepare for the apocalypse because nothing is safe at that point.

The Colorado Buffaloes have a target on their back. Sanders has to downplay the result but in the toughest conference in the nation you know he has to believe there is some trouble ahead. I think that may have been the least amount of points Colorado will score all year but definitely not the most they will give up.

Again, I rate this USC team higher than Oregon Offensively. Because I’m not a proven entity in my football analysis, I will leave that to the others on Happy Hour Sports. I think this team is every bit as capable of running riot in Colorado as Oregon did, and probably more so.

Unfortunately for Colorado, I expect much of the same result in today’s game against USC. Like I previously stated, I don’t think 42 is the highest amount of points Colorado will give up this year. USC has a better offense than Oregon but I do think Colorado has the chance to get more than 6 points this week if they can keep Shedeur Sanders upright.

This one’s a bit tougher. Because if you’d have asked me how well Shedeur Sanders would do this year, I’d have said slightly above average trending down, because this PAC 12 is a monster now, and the competition is stiff. There are some cracks in USC’s armor. But there are bigger holes in Colorado’s. If Williams doesn’t put up a high 190’s+ rating I will be legitimately surprised. I don’t get paid for my football insights, I’m a writer that skews towards the ‘business of sports’, and rarely writes on betting/football. So take that however you want.

Both quarterbacks match up against the opposing defense very well for todays matchup. Quite frankly there’s not a defense that matches up well against Caleb Williams in the entire nation. Shedeur Sanders has a much tougher task ahead of him. USC does in fact get to the quarterback very well but also give up a good amount of big plays and yards to the opposing team. If Sanders doesn’t get off to a hot start you can still expect him to have a ton of yardage by the end of the game due to some stat padding from garbage time.

Shedeur was (rightly) never in the Heisman talk, if you’re to be taken seriously. Penix or Caleb Williams will win that most likely. Sure there are a couple others who, if they get hot, could easily challenge, but in the current state of affairs if you’re talking about anyone other than Williams, Penix, or maybe one of a small handful of AP Poll T25 QB’s (Texas, Oregon, Michigan, etc.), then your head isn’t in the game.

If Williams wants to solidify the form he started the season with, there is about no better opponent to do it against than this Colorado team. If he is the real deal and wants to run away with it: Putting up big numbers against this Colorado team will serve him well. It will be talked about more than the Penix vs. Arizona result, even if Penix performs better, and against a side that is probably significantly tougher than CO.

Again, this is all part of the deal. Deion Sanders has a legitimate impact on even the Heisman trophy talk.

And his son gets mentioned. Even when he probably shouldn’t. Don’t take this the wrong way – Shedeur aside from what? 7? Sacks last game has done really well, and proven he’s a legitimate talent that is probably going late first round or early second round in the draft – and probably offers a lot to the right team in the NFL.

Caleb Williams is opening today as the co-favorite to win the Heisman this year. It’s starting to look like it will be a three way race between a group of quarterbacks in the Pac-12. Shedeur Sanders is not on that list. The final award winner will probably end up being whoever can have a better performance against the opposing matchups between Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, and Michael Penix.

No, I’m not going to make a pick for the day. This is a nuclear game for me, because the star factor has proved way too inconsistent this year on outcomes. I’m pretty sure this is an Oregon style beatdown + a few points. But let’s see if Prime was right about his team’s performance going forward. If you don’t at LEAST lean USC, you might be insane. I’d heavily lean USC to cover. And that is a borderline lock for me, but I’m simply not betting on the game. There are much more interesting bits of value on the slate this week. I’d also lean the team total over on USC but not as heavily as the spread.

I do not think there is much value to be had on the betting lines for this matchup. I’d normally love to bet the ‘race to 10’ or something similar on a game like this but with -350 ish it’s just absurd.

As of right now the spread is -21.5 for that play on USC. The Total is 72.5 ish. The team total is 47.5 ish. All depending on which books you bet with. If you need a sportsbook promo check here – it helps the site continue to do great content. Not that my content is at risk of that label. But I digress.

There is a prop on some of the books for Williams to have 2+ passing TD’s in each half at +200. I think that is within the realm of possibility, but I’d go no heavier than .25u on a play like that, despite realistic potential from a guy like Williams against a team like Colorado.

I am not paid for my betting picks, and you should treat my picks for what they cost you – zero. Stick to the others on this site with a legitimate record of winning sports betting picks.

USC Largest Lead of the Game -26.5 (-130)

USC Team Total o48.5 (-110)

Caleb Williams o3.5 Passing TDs (-130)

This is possibly a 6 win team with any real luck. I can see at least 1 more win locked. Maybe two as a lock. But three is starting to get generous. A 6 win program from Colorado, though, and everyone with a vested interest should be VERY pleased. I expected 2 wins this season prior to the start.

If they win 7, they risk losing Coach Prime anyways. And that could have negative effects on the program, even if some of his legacy will stay intact no matter if he goes elsewhere.

The future line adjusted on this way too drastically when they started out 3-1. Currently it sits at 5.5 for their win total on the season. Most likely I see them as a 5 or 6 win team but not getting to 7. I tend to lean towards 6 but that is a very slight lean.

There are at least 2 games I could see USC losing – Thy probably won’t to Oregon, but Washington and Oregon are legitimate contenders this year. I could also see potential trouble in a couple other games, but I think that USC is a comfortable 10 win team.

In the regular season, it’s highly unlikely. The Pac-12 is just too strong overall. I’m not one to trust FPI as a main metric in college football but currently they’re very close between three of their remaining opponents with Washington, Oregon, and Notre Dame. I would consider them a 10 win team but nothing more at the time just due to strength of schedule.

All hell will literally break loose if Colorado wins. You can almost guarantee that he leaves after the year if this upset takes place, to a much higher paying, much better resourced program. He will get more vocal. By a magnitude of 10. And why shouldn’t he. If he steers this Colorado team past a team that is realistically vying for National Championship Game contention, he deserves some more hype.

Social media will be insufferable for weeks.

Colorado will triple applications.

Students will storm fields all over Colorado, not just in Boulder. By the way that wasn’t a good look when you BARELY beat Colorado State, but hey, GET EXCITED! This is a new era in Colorado football history if they beat USC, or even come close.

If Colorado wins this game they will be unbearable. Between the media and Sanders’ master ability to play the game with them we will see a lot of content. He’ll call out USC recruits, he’ll ask everyone “do you believe?” A whole litany of other stuff will go on but one thing, if they do actually win, this one deserves a rush of the field.

Reassuring Colorado fans that there is more electricity to come. If he’s prepping right, there are a couple more games this year that can make Colorado look REAL good if fate favors them. And fortune favors the bold. Coach Prime is anything if not bold.

He’ll downplay the overall result, and give props to coach Riley. The same exact thing that he did with Dan Lanning last week. These teams have the Colorado game circled on the calendar now. They’ve put a big target on their back with the showman at the helm and the national media coverage Colorado has received where most other teams believe they should be receiving that attention.

Nothing changes much. You might see Deion backtrack a tiny bit, but only to get out another well-crafted, ‘made for PrimeTime” soundbyte.

He probably does well enough to go second round pretty high. If he can maintain his stats with the strength of schedule that the Buffaloes have, he may even go late in the 1st round. He’d have to have one hell of a game here against USC to stay in the Heisman talk, even at 8000+

They will face stiff competition the rest of the year, but I think any of their next three games are very winnable for them if they keep their momentum and do real work on tape review, and Deion doesn’t drink too much of his own Kool-aid. By the way, I LOVE what’s going on right now. I love controversy. I love an underdog story, I love Prime as a figurehead, even if he is full of it sometimes. He’s entertaining. I can get behind that, if even only for the novelty of it.

I’d rather Deion Sanders tell me how awesome he is by actually telling me how awesome he is, than listen to Ryan Day tell me how stupid he is without telling me directly how stupid he is, ANY DAY. And I am a FAN of Ohio State.

I lean to: ‘the uncertain’ for Colorado this year. If anything, it makes them unbettable (i said U-N-B-E-T-T-A-B-L-E, not unbeatable) for me. They are too unpredictable for me to even consider a real bet. I might dabble on some quarter unit bets if I see value, but they are an enigma this year.

Depending on how they perform today against USC, I’d probably lean for them to win any of the next three. The next three for Colorado are their time to shine. If they want a 6 win season it’s happening in the next three matchups. Period. The later competition will be improving, and are already stronger than the Buffaloes.

Clinton Duffy was the warden of San Quentin Prison. A prison notorious for housing the worst of the worst criminals. A critic once cautioned him: “You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!” Duffy replied, “You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.”

He’s right – everyone is capable of change. Men are not leopards. Deion Sanders is a man. One I’m fond of for a lot of different reasons, even if I do audibly roll my eyes at times listening to him talk.

I will state categorically: A Sander’s does not change his Personality. He just adds another layer.

Coach Prime, PrimeTime, Neon Deion, Deion Sanders will continue to talk. It’s what he does. It’s his best attribute as someone who cannot play anymore. He’s powerful because he talks. He says what you expect a reasonable person would hold back on. That’s why he has done so much for this Colorado program this year. It will continue. Make no mistake.

There is no such thing as bad PR for Deion Sanders. Period. He’s slippery. Nothing sticks that is negative. And I love it! Colorado may hold their nose in private, but they are laughing all the way to the bank. They made the exact right choice in Coach Prime.

If you think that Deion Sanders isn’t continuously looking out for Deion Sanders, then you are not a sentient being. He is 74% marketing at this stage in his career. As someone who built a career on marketing, I could not be more enamored by this crazy timeline/sequence/simulation.

He is…wait for it… LEGENDARY. Right now. He is already a cult of personality at Colorado. He has helped to reshape this program into something that has real potential. He will be forever remembered at Colorado, even if certain folks already hate him. He’s done a lot for the school. For the program’s legitimacy. I know. I know. Legitimacy in what regard? He’s not Kirby Smart. But we already knew that. He’s Deion. As if he needed more accolades or resume builders.

And yet, if he’s at Colorado in 5 years he’s done something horribly wrong. He’s coming to a top 25 program near you in the next 3 years, Mark My Words.

My conclusion is that Deion Sanders, is Deion Sanders, is Deion Sanders. To have expected anything different is ridiculous.

He WILL trash talk. He WILL be successful, because he takes calculated risks. If you think that Deion came into Boulder looking to win 2 games this year you have him mixed up with someone else. He is a program builder now. He’ll be courted by any team that has a scandal in the next five years (maybe even Michigan State).

He knew without a doubt that his PR team, and his pro-athlete influence would change the Colorado program instantly. And it has happened. As unpredictable as this team is this year, there is nothing that isn’t choreographed and practiced, and predetermined for Deion Sanders. He wins because he preps harder than the competition. And even if he isn’t winning on the field against PAC-12 conference competition, he’s still winning right under all of our noses.

This is about more than just a game against a much more powerful USC team – this Coach Prime thing is just getting started. Expect it to be continued somewhere else at different times over the next decades. The game has already changed. Now let’s see how it plays out.