The Colorado Buffaloes have had a season to remember—for all the things not to do next season. Despite being on the cusp of back-to-back losing seasons, there could be light at the end of the tunnel. With the official approval of the 24-team expansion of the College Football Playoff, Deion Sanders and the Buffs could have a chance to make their first-ever appearance next year. Every Power 4 school will try for one of 19 automatic bids with a chance to host a playoff game on their campus. Here’s the catch to it all. If Sanders and his staff can duplicate the success from the 2024 season, they’ll likely be Playoff bound. However, the biggest elephant in the room is, will Coach Prime be in Boulder long enough to make the postseason? The margin for error has greatly increased, and with the removal of conference championship games, every team has a fair shot.Colorado hoped for a culture change with Sanders, but instead got a repeat of history with only one winning season in his tenure thus far. There’s always room for improvement. The new CFP format may have just bought the Hall of Fame cornerback another year. The regular season games will no longer have must-win stakes. Because now a three or four-loss team can punch their ticket for a shot at a national championship. A team like Colorado should be licking its chops at an opportunity to be part of the final 24 teams. If they were to finish 9-3, it would almost guarantee them a playoff berth. However, they wouldn’t be the only unlikely team sniffing glory. The biggest concern is whether Coach Prime can lead his team to another 9-win season without Heisman winner Travis Hunter and his sons, Shedeur and Shilo. It has yet to be done and doesn’t look like it will happen in the foreseeable future. Outside of Prime’s expensive buyout to the tune of $26 million, the Buffs are keeping him for the ‘what if’ factor. What if he can achieve another 9-4 season without his sons and one of the best players in college football history? For now, though, Colorado will need to figure out how to squeak past No. 17 Houston and win their first game in nearly a month on Friday, November 13 (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN). Another loss will drop the Buffs out of postseason contention for the third time in Sanders’ tenure.
