I rarely say this but Paul Finebaum is right. He recently said on ESPN that Deion Sanders is relevant but Colorado as a program is “irrelevant” in the big picture of college football. How is he wrong?
Here’s his take…
.@finebaum says Colorado is "irrelevant in the big picture of college football" 😳 pic.twitter.com/4sWxWKEmaY
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 15, 2024
I can’t find one thing he says that’s false. Shedeur Sanders says Colorado is everyone’s Super Bowl. They aren’t. Finebaum says that after a couple of wins over bad teams with big names (TCU and Nebraska) that Colorado has done nothing in college football. And he says Deion isn’t patient enough to build a winner in Colorado. He’s spot on.
Finebaum is absolutely correct and here’s why it’s notable. Many people are afraid to criticize Deion and Colorado. I am obviously not one of them but many are afraid. Colorado has received more media attention than actual playoff contenders like Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and others despite being a 4-8 program. Colorado was the focus of ESPN itself at Big 12 Media Day. And it’s for one reason and one reason only – Deion Sanders.
Deion is relevant, he’s very relevant. He’s an amazing ex-player and Hall of Famer taking over a horrible 1-11 program to try to prove he can be a Hall of Fame caliber coach as well. And he’s brash as always. But he’s also doing so for his sons and his pseudo son, Travis Hunter. And everyone knows this but Colorado fans have been fooled. Most think he’s in it for the long haul and they actually believe him when he says he can compete for the playoffs this season after taking over a team that went 1-8 in-conference and followed that up with another 1-8 in-conference finish during his first year. They improved from 1-11 to 4-8. In the famous words of Jim Mora — “playoff?” It’s not happening. It’s likely not even close to happening.
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Let’s say Colorado improves again this season — and they should based on what Deion tells us. He’s replaced his Louis with new Louis but he still has two amazing impact players on his team and some talent. So let’s say they go 7-5 overall. That’s the same as Texas Tech and Iowa State last season in the Big 12. Did any of them even sniff a playoff? Nope. Would they have been considered with an expanded 12 team playoff? Nope. How about 8-4? That’s Kansas, Kansas State and West Virginia, hardly world powers. You get the point. Colorado would have to win the Big 12 to get in. Maybe they could sneak in at 10-2 without winning the conference because of Deion’s name. But those are the only two options. So we can expect a 4-8 team that finished losing 7 of their last 8 to make that kind of jump? With a second year coach and more than 40 new players? Let’s be real.
We talk about Colorado because of Deion. He’s that important. But to consider them relevant as a football team as some in the media do is simply wrong. Finebaum is just calling it like he sees it.
