Deion Sanders and his Buffaloes are back where they believe they belong: the Big 12. After a rough 13-year stint in the Pac-12, marked by back-to-back terrible seasons, the Buffs are returning to a conference where they once thrived. It’s a homecoming of sorts.

Colorado football’s glory days were largely spent in the Big 12 from 2001 to 2010. They won the conference championship in 2001, four North Division titles, and produced a staggering 204 All-Big 12 players. 

On August 2, the CU Buffs’ official Instagram handle reposted a list of such feats, captioning, “Time to craft new legends.”  The program has also minted 28 All-Americans and several national award winners, including Butkus, Mackey, and Ray Guy Award recipients. It has made it to seven Bowl games in its Big 12 era. 

Even CU Athletic Director Rick George sounded confident that returning to the Big 12 is the right move. He believes it will provide the program with “stability, resources, and exposure necessary for long-term future.” True to that, the early returns under Deion Sanders are promising. The Buffs are generating quite the buzz, with star quarterback Shedeur Sanders on the Maxwell Award watch list and two-way phenom Travis Hunter on the Jim Thorpe watch list. Looks like the historic vibes are back!

However, the road to such massive success won’t be easy. The Big 12 has evolved, and the competition is now more fierce. Even many experts believe the Buffs will face a challenging schedule this season, taking the spotlight from their historic feats. 

Deion Sanders gets a Big 12 reality check

While Coach Prime has brought a ton of hype to Colorado football, experts are starting to cool down the excitement. The Buffs are back in the Big 12, but the conference is no joke. With teams like Utah and Arizona State joining the big party, the competition is fierce, with 16 teams on the list. 

On3’s JD Pickell thinks the Buffs will have a decent start but predicts a tough stretch along their November schedule. “I think you lose at Texas Tech, lose at Utah, at Kansas, and against Oklahoma State,” Pickell says bluntly, drawing attention to the new competitors. Even analyst Kevin Borba agrees that Colorado has a brutal schedule ahead. While Pickell predicts a 6-win season for the Buffs, Borba goes for a 5-win season. “I look at their schedule and I see North Dakota State. I see UCF Kansas State, Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State, seven of their 12 games are against teams who are going to run the football and will do it well,” he said.

Now, it’s a harsh dose of reality for a program riding on Deion’s promise.