Would it be too bold to say that no one knew Colorado Buffs before Deion Sanders? This team went 1-11 in 2022 before Coach Prime came over, and it wasn’t even on the map of most CFB fanatics. Sanders not only revived the team but with the help of his son Deion Sanders Jr., completely changed their social media game. Despite going 4-8 back in 2023 and getting the label “playing for clicks”, you cannot deny that in just one year, people have been paying a lot of attention to the program. But it seems Sanders’ influence has seemed into aspects that no one would have thought about.

That’s what Joe Pompliano has shared. In a new social media post, he stated, “Deion Sanders is the most underrated coach in college football and I can prove it with data. So Deion Sanders has a fully guaranteed $30 million contract at Colorado. And many people say this is a good deal because tickets, merchandise, and sponsorships are all up in to the right. But the truth is that Deion’s real impact comes in the admissions office.”

“There is something called the Flutie effect. The general idea is that athletic success leads to academic success because nationally televised games are essentially free marketing for a school. This is why Florida Gulf Coast saw a 27% jump in applications after making the Sweet 16  in 2013. Or why Butler saw a 40% increase in applications after reaching the title game in 2010. And the Flutie effect is even bigger in college football, with the best example being how Alabama doubled its enrolment under Nick Saban,” Pompliano opined.

The Flutie effect is when a college’s athletic success leads to more college applications coming in. It got its name when Boston College’s biggest marketing campaign lasted about six seconds in 1984. In a game against the University of Miami, Boston’s QB Doug Flutie threw a last-second ‘Hail Mary’ pass 48 yards. It was marvelously caught for a game-winning touchdown and it went on to be remembered as one of the most exciting ones in college football history. But something else took place as well.

The game put Boston College on the map. In the next two years, applications went up by 30%.

Pompliano further shared, “We are already seeing this play out at Colorado with  20% jump in applications just this year. But the school can only take in so many new students. So the type of student is even more important. Colorado will now focus on adding out-of-state students, who pay three times more tuition than in-state students, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue for the school.”

See, Coach Prime has turned a 1 win team into a Big 12 title contender. That counts for something. And even if we look past that, the other stats also prove that getting Coach Prime as the HC was probably the best decision Colorado had ever made. When the total applicant number was tallied up, it was recorded to be 20% more than what the school had experienced back in 2023. A total of 68,000 applications came in for fall 2024. They extended offers to 51,000 students and enrollment increased 3.4% year-over-year.

And if we roll back to sports, this team has managed to crack into the AP Week 9 polls after their massive win against the Bearcats. Did you ever think that Colorado would land on the AP polls? If that wasn’t enough, Deion Sanders has a big shot at cracking the playoffs right now.

After what they displayed on the turf against Arizona Wildcats and Cincinnati Bearcats, it’s pretty clear that the team’s defense and rush have finally connected and are on point. We have said this before, and we will say it again. Bringing in Pat Shurmur and Robert Livingston was probably the best gamble Deion Sanders could have played. Shedeur Sanders is playing perfectly from the pocket.

Take the Kansas State game as a benchmark. Shedeur had no one by his side. Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. were injured and sidelined. Despite that, Shedeur kept the boys in the game with 3 touchdowns and crossed 380+ yards on the board. This was the same guy who was marked as the most sacked QB last year. This time around, in eight games, Shedeur has only been sacked 25 times. They got a shot at making this big. With the Bowl games secured, the playoff is the next target. However, do you know what will add the cherry on top of this already beautiful cake for the University?

HE12MAN for the Buffs

The Heisman is pretty much the end goal or the magnum opus every player in CFB aims for. For years, QBs have maintained a strong domination over the trophy. It’s understandable why. Quarterbacks help make big plays through which a team scores. Without them, getting points on the board will be a rough task.

However, this year? It seems like the QB domination is about to end. Travis Hunter is on a whole new level. He has already broken a 26-year-old record against the Rams and then went on to grab the AP Midseason All-American for first-team offense and then First-team defense.

And now, should we check the Heisman odds? Hunter is standing strong on +200.

Right now, the only real competitor for Colorado’s 2-way star is QB Cam Ward from the Hurricanes. Ward is also on the +200 spot, and the race is almost nearing its end.

Hunter has four more games left to prove that he is the future. And if he does manage to crack the Heisman, imagine the kind of attention his school would enjoy. What do you think?