Deion Sanders says Colorado is 'gonna win,' but what are realistic expectations in 2023

How strong is the cult of personality that is Deion Sanders? So powerful that fans are literally putting their money where their mouth is this season in regard to Colorado’s 2023 potential under Coach Prime. 

The Buffs, with a preseason win-total at 3.5, have been the most bet team in the country to win the national championship this offseason. 

According to a recent piece in USA Today, Colorado ranks first at BetMGM on bets to win the Pac-12 in both tickets (67%) and the amount wagered (74%). At Caesars Sportsbook, Colorado’s win total has been bet more than any other school’s over/under in the country. Some 89% of tickets are on the Buffs to win at least four games, per BetMGM.

8.1% of bets (6th most) are on @CUBuffsFootball +25000 to win College Football Playoff.

Colorado is the biggest liability at @BetMGM. pic.twitter.com/yzZcEPsQ8w

— John Ewing (@johnewing) May 8, 2023

“The bettors, they see the way this guy recruits, the way the players follow him and play for him, and they think there is probably more to come for Colorado,” DraftKings director of race and sportsbook operations Johnny Avellon told the USA Today.

“He’s been a winner his whole life.”

Maybe, but his team is not going to win a whole lot of games this fall. 

Reasonable expectations for Colorado, Deion Sanders in Year 1

Never has a program that went 1-11 a season ago received so much attention a year later. And with good reason. 

Deion Sanders is theater. Colorado is going to be a must-watch show each Saturday. 

What happens if the Buffs pull of an insane upset in September (at TCU, vs. Nebraska, at Oregon, vs. USC). What will the hullaballoo be if Sanders starts 1-4? Can Sanders manage a roster full of mercenaries is the losses start piling up? How will he handle criticism after mostly shutting out the media without ever coaching a game at CU?

It’s going to be fascinating however it all plays out. 

In the eight months since taking over a moribund program, Sanders has dominated offseason headlines thanks to a roster reckoning we’ve never seen before — 51 transfers in, some 20 scholarship players out and 22 commits on board. 

Colorado needed a violent roster cleanse after the team went 9-21 the last three seasons. Yet, despite Sanders’ program being under the microscope all offseason, one under-discussed storyline is what happens when a first-year coach essentially punts on spring practice?

More than 40,000 fans showed up in the snow at Folsom Field to watch Colorado’s “spring scrimmage,” only 43 players who were on the team that April afternoon no longer play for the Buffs. 

Those 15 practices were a complete wash for nearly the entire roster. 

So what should we expect from Colorado in 2023? 

There’s optimism surrounding Coach Prime’s son in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter was voted preseason First-Team All Pac-12 at both corner and all-purpose. The Buffs have some skill talent, too, in Kentucky transfer tailback Kavosiey Smoke, USF wideouts Jimmy Horn and Xavier Weaver. 

But will the Buffs be able to block? Can the nation’s worst DL a year ago stop the run with all new faces? There’s just so many questions up and down the roster. The Buffs are hard to handicap because there is so much volatility with the team.

So all those bets? The wagers on winning the Pac-12 or the national championship?

That’s all blind faith, brother. 

Colorado’s win total at 3.5 is another story. From this vantage point, Sanders will be a miracle worker if he can coach Colorado anywhere near bowl eligibility this fall. Winning four games — especially against a schedule that includes 11 Power 5 opponents and Colorado State — should be considered a successful season. 

The Buffs were picked to finish 11th in the preseason Pac-12 poll, and Sanders recently took umbrage at such low expectations, saying, “Who cares about that? Who gets it right? Who really gets it right? If you guys got it right, you’d be in Vegas right now at the window with a birthday suit on, man, come on. Nobody gets it right. You’re all projecting. Nobody knows what is going to happen. I don’t know what is going to happen. I feel like I know what’s gonna happen but I don’t know what’s gonna happen.

“(My goal is) to win, develop, get these guys to the next level and help them to be men, not boys. That’s my expectation and we’re going to eclipse that. We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win. I wish I could say that in several different languages, but we’re gonna win.”

Maybe he will, but contrary to all those wagers in Las Vegas, the bet here is there aren’t four wins on that schedule.