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Deion Sanders has Colorado in College Football Playoff contention after chaos hits Big 12

Nakos updated headshotby:Pete Nakos•11/05/24•

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Colorado Buffaloes

The bye week was beneficial for the Colorado Buffaloes as chaos hit the Big 12. Deion Sanders now has a clear path to the College Football Playoff if the Buffaloes continue to take care of business.

Iowa State fell to 4-1 in Big 12 play, slipping up at home to Texas Tech. Later on Saturday, Kansas State dropped to 4-2 in a loss to Houston. The losses left just one undefeated Big 12 team remaining — BYU — as the Buffaloes are now tied with Iowa State in second place in league standings.

Colorado is 4-1 in league play and travels to Texas Tech this weekend before finishing the season with Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State, which are a combined 9-17 on the season. Texas Tech is a 3.5-point favorite at home, according to FanDuel.

Colorado debuted at No. 20 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

Iowa State still has meetings with Kansas State and Cincinnati, both of which sit in the upper half of the Big 12 standings. BYU has a clear path to finish 12-0 with visits to Utah and Arizona State while hosting Kansas and Houston.

On3’s Ari Wasserman had the Buffaloes listed as one of his first four out in Sunday’s College Football Playoff Bubble Watch. But that can change if Colorado keeps winning. ESPN’s FPI currently gives the Buffaloes a 15% chance to make the College Football Playoff.

If Iowa State loses another game, Colorado can jump to No. 2 in the Big 12 standings and make the conference title game. But if the Cyclones keep winning, the Buffaloes could still qualify for the Big 12 championship game off of the league’s tiebreakers. A win in the title game would deliver a berth to the 12-team College Football Playoff.

In Year Two of the Deion Sanders era at Colorado, the Buffaloes could make college football’s postseason. He’s done it by piecing together star talent in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter and winning games during conference play.

If the Buffaloes do make the Big 12 championship game and win, it would be their first conference title since 2001. The program’s lone national title was in 1990.