Deion Sanders’ Colorado Is Already Doing the Heisman Dance With Shedeur and Travis Hunter

Alex Murray | 01/12/2024
CU football standout athlete Travis Hunter flashes a No. 1 with his finger after a win against CSU in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Canvas Stadium on Saturday

The NCAA football season isn’t technically done; the Colorado Buffaloes still have at least a Bowl game to look forward to. However, the race for the Heisman is all but finished, and the Buffaloes are celebrating favorite Travis Hunter like it is, in fact, over.

Colorado’s media team has begun distributing Heisman packets featuring Hunter (a frontrunner) and QB Shedeur Sanders (a favorite). These were created by the school to promote the candidacy of both players for the coveted award this year.

The shiny packets are filled with quotes, stats, and pictures of both Sanders and Hunter, all with shiny gold lettering to underline the regal look of the packages.

Including Shedeur in the bundles was a nod to how good a season Deion Sanders‘ son has had for the Buffs—but he doesn’t have any kind of realistic chance at winning the award. Sanders sat 6th with +2,5000 odds to win the Heisman prior to Colorado’s win on Friday, and we can’t imagine his efforts strengthened his case in the face of Hunter’s majestic performance.

Hunter put a stamp on his 2024 Heisman campaign in Colorado’s regular season, capping off a 52-0 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. His critics wanted him to dominate at two positions to earn the Heisman over Ashton Jeanty, so that’s what he went out and did.

The WR/CB standout had 10 receptions for 116 yards and three TDs on offense. On the other side, he produced a tackle, an interception, and a pair of passes defended.

After that display on Black Friday, Hunter’s odds shortened even further to -1,000. That’s about as close to a sure thing as you’re going to get prior to the finalists’ announcements on December 4.

With that in mind, the Buffaloes are wasting no time in preparing their facility to house another Heisman Trophy. The school has only had one other player win the Heisman: running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994. They are now renovating their “Champion’s Center” to make room for a second one, which they expect Travis Hunter to win come the Heisman ceremony on December 14.

Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is the only one with even a remote shot to steal it from Hunter and put a stop to those preemptive renovations. But at +750 odds, even he’s a pretty long shot at this point. Hunter has wrapped up his regular season with 92 receptions and 14 receiving TDs on top of 1,152 receiving yards. On defense, he had 32 combined tackles, four interceptions, and a conference-leading 11 passes defended.

Jeanty led the nation in rushing attempts (312), rushing yards (2,288), and rushing TDs (28) all while producing a laughably high 7.3 yards per carry. Hunter, meanwhile, was 2nd in the nation in receptions and 2nd in the nation in receiving TDs… and also finished in the top five in the country in interceptions while earning PFF’s highest CB coverage grade (90.9) of the campaign.

We’re just glad we’re not the ones who have to make this impossible Heisman decision.

Post Edited By: Samnur Reza
Colorado Buffaloes Deion Sanders Heisman Trophy NCAA Football Shedeur Sanders Travis Hunter

About the author

Alex Murray

Alex Murray

Alex Murray has been active in the sport media industry since his graduation from the prestigious RTA School of Media at TMU (formerly Ryerson University) in downtown Toronto. He has had a specific focus and interest on all things football and NFL, which stems from his father, who imbued him with a love of football and the NFL over all other sports at a young age. Alex even played football up until his freshman year of college, when he realized that he would find more success writing about rather than playing the sport. Alex has written for a variety of sports media outlets, including theScore, FanSided, FantasyPros, GiveMeSport, and more.

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