College Football

As Colorado and Deion Sanders reset expectations, what spells success?

Updated Sep. 27, 2023 4:03 p.m. ET

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RJ Young

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Last week, Colorado learned just how far it has to go to become a contender in a Power 5 conference.

The Oregon Ducks bulldogged the Buffaloes to the ground and put them in a full nelson until CU yelled "Quack!"

The game was over before halftime hit. The Buffaloes offense couldn't move the ball and couldn't keep star QB Shedeur Sanders off the ground.

The Buffaloes defense couldn't stop the Ducks from flying at all — let alone deter a halfback dive.

It was the worst CU has performed this season, and this week's challenge — national title contender USC at Folsom Field (Noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) — promises to be as formidable as the last.

Covering the spread against USC would count as a decent showing for a CU team reeling from its 36-point loss in Eugene last week. Certainly that will mean scoring more than once all game.

Still, a blowout loss for CU is likely to be one of the most-watched games in the country this weekend.

I know this because we watched CU even when they became C-U-Sorry. More than 10 million folks tuned in to watch UO beat Ralphie like a Swiftie would smack a piñata stuffed with two Eros tickets and a Travis Kelce jersey.

HOW TO WATCH ‘BIG NOON KICKOFF’ THIS SATURDAY

• 10 a.m.-Noon ET: "Big Noon Kickoff" pregame show on FOX
• Noon ET: USC at Colorado on FOX and the FOX Sports app

And many of them are Black folks. The Associated Press reported that "Colorado's first three games of the season were rated 77% higher among Black viewers than anywhere else in the country, according to data provided by ESPN research. Black viewers made up 23% of the audience for those games, compared with 15% for non-Colorado games."

Through it all, Black folks stay backing each other to the wall. We're all we got.

Can Coach Prime and Colorado pull off the upset against USC?

Boulder, Colorado, is well off, with a Black population of just 1.1%. A Black coach shaking the ground beneath a lily-white campus? Old heads have this movie.

One told me so, again, at the barbershop. "RJ, I heard your little podcast. But you ain't put them on Big John Thompson yet?

"RJ, use that big brain pushing out your five-head to tell these children what's really going on. (Coach) Prime is doing at Colorado what Big John did at Georgetown."

Deion Sanders on the underdog role: 'David's got to have a Goliath'

I was late to this. The AP was on it, though — just like Darian Hagan's 78-year-old aunt staying up late to watch CU pull out the win in OT against Colorado State.

Big John won a national title in the same environment Prime is attempting to do the same with the same demeanor, the same unabashed confidence and bravado. He brought Allen Iverson — the Travis Hunter equivalent — to Georgetown after first bringing Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing.

And what we got, the country seems to want, too. Black folks winning has always been good for business.

CNN reported that CU winning has been a boon to the Boulder economy. The University of Colorado commissioned a study to find out just how financially meaningful Coach Prime has been for the city.

And it has been wildly meaningful: media coverage worth $90.55 million in marketing, online team store sales revenue is up 892%, CU Buffalo football accounts increased from 268K total social followers to 2 million.

This team won't win the national title — not in 2023, anyway — and is a long shot to win its first conference title since 2001.

But just how good would the Buffaloes have to be to head into 2024 as the favorite to win the Big 12 when it returns to its old stomping grounds? Eight wins could be enough to win a Big 12 that will no longer feature Oklahoma and Texas.

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And that's a level within reach of the Buffs even this season — despite dealing with deficiencies on both lines.

It's conceivable for Colorado to beat Arizona State and Stanford before traveling to UCLA at the end of October. Following UCLA, all but one of the teams the Buffaloes play are currently ranked. Six wins is within reach, and that means bowl eligibility. Eight isn't out of the realm of possibility with Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State and Utah left.

And Prime has never coached a losing season.

However, one of those wins would need to be against two-time defending Pac-12 champ Utah. It promises to be one of the most-watched games of the weekend.

But that's the point. Colorado is the show.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.

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