“Blows My Mind”: CU’s Athletic Director Rick George Unhappy With Shedeur Sanders’ Ranking On Week 13 Heisman Poll

Since when was one not enough? While Travis Hunter is receiving all the plaudits he can imagine, his Colorado Buffaloes teammate, Shedeur Sanders, is apparently not getting enough love, according to CU’s vocal athletic director, Rick George.

Last year, Colorado was 4-8, and a lot of hearts were going out to Shedeur, who was playing behind possibly the worst offensive line in the nation. His 195 dropbacks while facing pressure and 49 sacks were both 2nd most in the nation, which is saying something when we’re talking about the entire NCAA, with hundreds of schools.

Now, they’re 8-2 with their sights set on a bowl game this season. The team’s success has gone hand-in-hand with the emergence of Shedeur as the team’s leader and arguably the best QB in the nation.

In On3 Sports’ Week 13 Heisman Trophy power rankings poll, Sanders was down at No. 8. That didn’t sit too kindly with Rick George.

The Buffaloes AD has not been shy about voicing his opinion on any range of matters through his Twitter account this season, and this was no exception.

“Blows my mind that Shedeur is not top 3 let alone top 5. SMH”

He didn’t say Shedeur should be ranked first, only that he should be ranked higher. And, realistically, he couldn’t really complain much more than he did, as another of his players, Hunter, sat atop the list. Colorado is also the only school with two players in the top 10, though that didn’t seem to satisfy George.

Even Shedeur Sanders thinks Travis Hunter should win the Heisman

Shedeur Sanders is definitely deserving of a top 10 spot on those rankings, and George is probably right, he could be even higher. However, we can understand One3’s reluctance to put two players from the same team in the top five, lest they be accused of showing a Colorado Buffaloes bias.

Sanders is probably the best QB in the country this year. He’s likely to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft in April. He leads his conference in completions (280), completion percentage (72.9), TD passes (27), and passer rating (163.0). Even with all that going for him, Shedeur himself doesn’t think he should win the Heisman this year.

Of course, being the supportive athletic director he is, Rick George had to chime in again.

There has never been a shared Heisman Trophy, so George is grasping at straws here. And even if it wasn’t going to be Hunter (who’s now at near “sure thing” levels with -350 odds to win), it would be Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty who would be next in line, not Shedeur.

Hunter and Sanders will continue to make their individual cases to both the Heisman committee and NFL scouting departments over the next few weeks. Colorado’s final two regular season games are both against unranked opponents: Kansas and Oklahoma State. After that, they will have the chance to strut their stuff on the big stage of a Bowl game.

The Heisman Trophy ballots will be distributed starting on December 2, and voting will last one week, until the deadline on December 9, when the finalists will be announced. The actual Heisman Trophy ceremony will be held on December 14 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.