The Colorado Buffaloes will be playing in their first Bowl game—the Valero Alamo Bowl against No. 17 BYU—since 2020, thanks to their No. 23 national ranking. This serves as the latest validation of head coach Deion Sanders’ work in Boulder. Sanders isn’t just happy to be in a Bowl game, however. He wants to win it.
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Coach Prime sent out a message before the game on Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, urging his team to “finish”. They had an impressive 9-3 record this year, earning their first national ranking since 2017. However, Sanders, as a two-time Super Bowl champion player and two-time SWAC champion head coach, knows it’s all about winning the last game of the season.
“We gotta finish. We gotta finish. Because we started something that’s phenomenal and these kids have changed the face of football for Colorado. They’ve changed the thought process for our fanbase… But I absolutely love what we accomplished, although we came up short. We came up short.”
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While many non-CFP Bowl games have become plagued by opt-outs due to the injury risk for players, Sanders has no opt-outs among his Buffaloes for the Alamo Bowl. It’s yet another example of how Sanders is trying to use his massive influence in the NCAA to not only help the association progress, but respect old traditions and the integrity of the game.
Deion Sanders isn’t going to the NFL—and that’s great for the NCAA
Deion Sanders’ success, first at Jackson State and then at Colorado, has sparked a lot of rumors about his move to the NFL. His two sons, Shilo and Shedeur, will be heading to the pros this season. Why not the dad too? Dallas Cowboys fans, Las Vegas Raiders fans, and even FSU fans can file those rumors under pipe dreams. Coach Prime recently confirmed he wants to plant his “flag” and stay in Boulder for the foreseeable future.
“I have every intention, every plan in the world, to be coaching for the Colorado Buffs from here on. I want to finish here. I want to put the flag… I want to put my name on the mountains out there. I want to put my flag down in Colorado.”
It’s a refreshing response from a head coach during an era of great change in the NCAA. The addition of NIL deals for players as well as the increasingly overused transfer portal has led to an exodus of veteran head coaches from the college game. Sanders, much like Bill Belichick, has gone the other way.
He has embraced those changes to the NCAA game. He has helped his players secure record NIL deals and used the transfer portal to bring his best players over with him to Colorado from Jackson State. However, he is still respecting old-school traditions, like Bowl games. He even stripped a player of his preferred number until he got his academics in order, later returning it to the player when he met the requirements.
Neon Deion has proven he’s about a lot more than the flash and flare that made him such a fun player to watch. He’s about changing the narrative in Boulder, and this season, he took the first step toward that goal.
“They’ve changed the thought process of everybody around, how they view us now. They know they’ve got to come to play… You look on your schedule, ain’t no W no more… We better get out on them early. Because if we don’t and they get that momentum, it’s a wrap… Because they’re physical and they’re tough and they’re fast and they understand they don’t make a lot of mistakes. That’s what we want them saying about us.”
Deion Sanders has done a bang-up job in two seasons with Colorado, but he wants to finish that sophomore season strong. He will look to lead the Buffaloes to their first Bowl game win since 2004—and he’s got a good chance considering Sanders’ guys come in as -2.5 point favorites.
