How Colorado will be welcomed back into Big 12 under Deion Sanders

As the 2024 football season approaches, the wide-ranging impacts of conference realignment will really be felt for the first time. Schools like Colorado will be entering a new conference, albeit a somewhat familiar one.

Colorado last appeared in the Big 12 in 2010, before the program joined the Pac-12.

This season’s foray will be a familiar return to taking on some opponents the Buffaloes might have new-found beef with. At least that’s what Max Olson, a writer for The Athletic, is expecting heading into the 2025 campaign.

“I think that there’s quite a few coaches in the Big 12 who would like to notch a win over Coach Prime,” Olson said on the Andy Staples On3 show. “I think that’s fair to say. I don’t think they hate him, but they certainly watched from afar everything going on over there.”

Coach Prime, or Deion Sanders, has certainly had the eyes of the college football world upon his program over the last two years. His arrival at Colorado instantly put the Buffaloes in the media spotlight, and there’s been so much that has happened since then that has further elevated the scrutiny.

From Sanders’ transfer portal heavy approach to his rather light recruiting strategy in the high school ranks, just about everything about Sanders’ program has been unique.

While it’s debatable whether those moves are always for the best, what isn’t up for discussion is the enormity of the spotlight Sanders brings when his team takes the field. That spotlight can sometimes dwarf the accomplishments of other programs, even when they’re bigger accomplishments than what Sanders and his squad have achieved.

That’s just the reality around Colorado football right now. But it may very well rub some the wrong way.

“They know that the way the TV networks are going to pitch this is that Colorado’s the most exciting team in the Big 12 and there’s going to be a lot of schools in the Big 12 that are going to want to humble them, just like Dan Lanning last year,” Olson said.

Needless to say, that will create some quality drama in the league.

And given the way the Big Ten and the SEC have coalesced power in recent years, having something the Big 12 can call its own that gets major eyes on the conference might just be a win.

There’s a long way to go to get there, though, with the dull summer months upon us. Still, it won’t be long until the spotlight turns on and Sanders and his squad are in action.

Colorado starts its season on Aug. 29 with a game against North Dakota State. Its first Big 12 game will come on Sept. 21 against Baylor.