Boulder has seen a storm wreck its newfound glory under Coach Prime in these past few months. Colorado will be missing some serious star power – and talent – in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. On the other hand, Deion Sanders himself is coming back from a tough fight against cancer. This period of limbo has began to dent Colorado’s outlook in the season a little bit. Deion Sanders has a lot to work for to help get back into national attention.

But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Colorado won’t create any noise this season. In a relatively quiet offseason post the draft, Coach Prime had to completely rebuild a new Buffaloes squad. And with the schedule Colorado has ahead, it’s going to be a brutal ride for Deion Sanders this year. There are some question marks in the 2025 Buffaloes team, mostly about Coach Prime’s stay in Boulder now that his star players are gone. Rece Davis, however, has hope that Colorado will be a potential surprise contender this season.

He said in an August 13 episode of College Gameday Podcast, “Colorado last year was very close to playing for the conference championship. There was a point in time late in the season that I thought that they were the best team in the Big 12. It’s a big change, big turnover, bit of a rebuild for Deion Sanders with Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders being gone among others. And then Deion also recovering and our best to him as he continues to, you know, his battle against cancer… I mean, people have questioned you know commitment. Was he just there for Shedeur? And the answer appears to be ‘No.’”

But that does not take away from the fact that 2025 will be the true test for Deion Sanders. The QB1 battle is still going to be a fight between Kaidon Salter and JuJu Lewis. The defense should continue on its upward trend, set by DC Robert Livingston last year. But the schedule isn’t going to spare Deion Sanders this time. The Buffaloes will play BYU, TCU, and Arizona State – all of whom are strong contenders for the Big 12 championship. This season, a conference title is going to be a pipe dream for Coach Prime. But otherwise, Deion Sanders should meet the bare minimum expected of Colorado. “Can they get six wins? Can they get seven wins? I think that’d be a good season for Colorado this year,” co-host Dan Wetzel added.

With just a handful of weeks remaining for Colorado’s season to begin, Deion Sanders just got dealt a tough blow in preseason rankings. All of this makes one thing sure: we won’t be seeing the same Colorado that took the field the past two years.

Deion Sanders and CU in for a tough verdict from AP preseason poll

“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Coach Prime said at a recent presser. Fans and experts might need a little more convincing. 2024 ended on a tough note for the Buffaloes, as losses to Kansas State and Kansas kept them from taking a shot at the conference title. But, they managed to make the last spot of the final AP poll – a feat that hasn’t graced Boulder since 2016. This year, however, Colorado has worryingly fallen out of the voters’ consideration. In the recently released AP Top 25 preseason poll, Deion Sanders failed to make the cut.

Those from the Big 12 surprisingly include Iowa State and a powerful Kansas State, along with returning Big 12 champions, ASU. This means Deion Sanders’ absence, along with the departures of Colorado’s best has affected the outlook of the program this year. Last year, Colorado even featured in the Top 20 in rankings during the season – that’s because Colorado had those stars in the lineup. Without those last two losses, this was a team that could have had a double-digit finish. CU tied first in the Big 12 last year. All of that seems to be in the distant past, as Colorado debuts a new squad this season.

Coach Prime will have his work cut out for him as he resumes life as the Buffs’ HC. It is impossible to replicate the star power from last year. But without those elements, Deion Sanders will still have a tough season ahead because of his brutal schedule. How well is he going to shape this new era of Colorado football?