Just Google the asinine moniker “Coach Prime” and see what the results light up your monitor/screen. It’s getting tedious, especially after the Colorado Buffaloes—one of the worst teams historically in Pacific-12 Conference history, including all its predecessors—beat the TCU Horned Frogs, 45-42, on the road in the opening game of the 2023 college football season. As we all know, one win does not make a season, at all.

Colorado Head Coach Deion Sanders always has been a good self promoter: we remember the Sports Illustrated cover story about him in 1989 during his NFL rookie season—even though he proceeded to get schooled by Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers immediately thereafter. We were there for that 45-3 shellacking the 49ers dropped on Neon Deion and the Atlanta Falcons. We haven’t stopped laughing since.

Our college friends at the time started calling him “Juray” after the story came out the Friday before the November 12, 1989 game at Candlestick Park, and after Sanders managed just 16.3 yards per kickoff return—while not being able to stop Montana from throwing for 3 touchdowns and posting a 158.3 QB rating, the highest possible, for the game—it was easy to laugh off the hype. Yes, he’s in the NFL Hall of Fame now …

But he’s always been sort of a joke to common-sense sports fans, despite his undeniable level of talent in both baseball and football—simply because of his wannabe Muhammad Ali routine, really. Winning two Super Bowl rings and one World Series ring in the space of 12 months is an unfathomable feat no one will replicate any time soon, but even still, Sanders’ need to be in the spotlight all the time just got comical.

Now, the Buffaloes are the darlings of sports mediots covering NCAA football, for many reasons, the principle one being Sanders’ himself. But beating TCU wasn’t that impressive, and here’s why we expect the team to struggle with its tougher-than-everyone-thinks league slate in the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions:

  • TCU’s last game from 2022, despite being the CFP Championship Game, was a 65-7 loss that showed just how “bad” the Horned Frogs really were last year, regardless of their record (13-2) and runner-up finish.
  • The Colorado win featured no defense, as the two teams combined for over 1,100 yards of offense—and just three combined turnovers, two by TCU, which also committed a whopping 10 penalties.
  • Thus, it could be argued factually that the Horned Frogs lost the game more than Colorado won it, but without honest reporting, that literal narrative doesn’t sell well enough for the sports mediots.
  • Nonetheless, ESPN’s Football Power Index ranks the Buffaloes at No. 71 after the first week, even though the Associated Press pollsters put Colorado at No. 21 for some reason (i.e., it sells tickets!).
  • The rest of the teams on the season schedule for Coach Prime and his merry band of misfits? Nebraska (No. 52); Colorado State (128); @ Oregon (11); USC (5); @ Arizona State (89); Stanford (69); @ UCLA (39); Oregon State (24); Arizona (54); @ Washington State (53); and @ defending Pac-12 champion Utah (15). How many losses are probable in that remaining schedule? Six?
  • The Buffs might start out 3-0 with even more hype, but they should finish with just a 6-6 record when all is said and done—which is a great improvement from the 1-11 record in 2022. But most coaches could do this by turning over the roster so thoroughly in his first season. Is Coach Prime really just a .500 coach? Pretty much, and it’s not going to get easier moving to the Big XII next year, either.
  • By the way, TCU is still ranked at No. 37 ahead of the Buffaloes, by the way, simply because the Horned Frogs are still a better team, mathematically speaking, even if they laid an egg in their last two games.

So, when the inevitable losses pile up for Colorado, the press for Prime will disappear—and the mediots will act like they never built the Buffs up at all. Just remember where you read it first … you’re welcome.