After months and months of relentless attacks towards Coach Prime, Paul Finebaum is getting a clapback like no other. The season-opener game of Colorado against the North Dakota State Bisons was one of the most anticipated games of 2024, especially because the fans were itching to look at the newly revamped roster of the Buffaloes. The team delivered with a win but recorded an exceptionally record-breaking number of viewers, but later turned out to be a dud against other teams like Notre Dame and the Georgia Bulldogs.

While praising Deion Sanders and his influence, Paul Finebaum demeaned the worth of the Colorado Buffaloes and said, “They don’t matter. They’re irrelevant in the big picture of college football” These words of his riled up all the CU fans and now that they had a befitting reply to his words by highlighting the viewership record of their game against the Bisons, their boast seemed weak against the other games that have a bigger record to brag about.

The Buffaloes’ horns seem puny in front of SEC giants

On 2nd September, the Colorado Buffaloes’ official X account posted an image from the game and emphasized the “5.6 M Viewers” words which are now ESPN’s most viewed Thursday night opener in 7 years. The image was captioned with a single word, taken directly from Finebaum’s scathing statements, which were “Irrelevant.”

The Buffaloes are known for their fan following and the records they tend to set with their influence, but when it comes to the TV ratings of this season, they have more to catch up on at the moment. As per a tweet from a writer for The Athletic, “TV ratings season has begun, via ABC. Notre Dame-A&M: 8.2M Georgia-Clemson: 7.9M Miami-Florida: 6.6M This is why they’re paying for the SEC.” Thus, it is evident that the Buffaloes have more might to show than what Finebaums seems to think and though they have a long way to go to be one of the elite programs, Deion Sanders and his team are gradually making their way to the peak. As for his relentless negativity, Deion himself hit back at him recently for his comments about the “irrelevance” of the program.

Deion Sanders fires back at Paul Finebaum

Paul Finebaum has been on the case of Deion Sanders ever since he came to Boulder last year. From calling him a “celebrity coach” to calling him “impatient”, the pendulum of Finebaum’s opinions has seen both its highs and lows. While Coach Prime is usually seen turning a deaf ear to his comments, he addressed the analyst’s harsh judgments and gave him his own dose of medicine.

In a recent episode on Robert Griffin III’s “Outta Pocket” podcast, Deion was asked about his thoughts on what Finebaum had to say and the HC matched the ESPN veteran’s intensity and hurled back. He said, “But he talking about us. How can we be irrelevant and you talking about me? And he’s a dying breed. So what does he have to do to stay (relevant) and keep up with this change? ‘Oh, I’ve got to go find that big bad wolf and talk about him. So now, I keep my relevancy.” Thus, this is the season where Deion and his Buffaloes get to hit back at all these critics with their touchdowns and records rather than words, as great sportsmen always tend to do.