Dan Mullen: Colorado 'absolutely not' contenders in the Pac-12 race
Colorado generated even more hype and expectations for their season with their stunning 45-42 win over No. 17 TCU this weekend. Even so, Dan Mullen still doesn’t see it moving the needle for them as far as competing for the Pac-12.
Mullen shared his thoughts on Coach Prime and the Buffaloes having a shot at the Pac-12 Championship this fall on ‘College Football Countdown’ on Monday. Simply put, Mullen believes they have no shot at being in Las Vegas but did say that the win in Forth Worth has made him rethink their potential bowl aspirations.
“Absolutely not, absolutely not,” said Mullen.
“I’m going to tell you what – I think a lot of people are looking at them as a two, three, maybe four-win team,” Mullen said. “I think they’re getting to a bowl game, I think they are going to be much better than everybody expects. But we need to really pump the breaks on contending for that Pac-12 title.”
Colorado is the story of college football at the moment as Deion Sanders and his completely new roster in Boulder took it to last year’s national runner-up on their home field.
However, to be fair, one game does not determine a conference contender. That victory, as impressive as it was, is just one outcome. It will require even more success from Colorado, especially in a league with the likes of USC, Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Oregon State, to get them to Las Vegas.
Is there a chance that Deion and the Buffaloes could make it to Allegiant Stadium? Yes, especially considering how emphatically they proved themselves right against the Horned Frogs weekend. It’s just that, for Mullen, it’s going to take a few more of those under their belt before a jump can be made from a team that should win a handful of games to one that could win their conference’s crown.
Paul Finebaum: Colorado had one of the ‘great’ days in modern college football history
Deion Sanders and Colorado stunned the sport according to Paul Finebaum.
The ESPN commentator took a look at that game and said it was peak Sanders. Coach Prime pushed all of the right buttons all offseason long and it paid off with an upset victory.
Finebaum tried to quantify what it meant for the sport after Sanders proved the doubters wrong.
“For Colorado, they have another opportunity this week against a once-big-name school,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “But, really, I don’t know Deion Sanders has to do another thing all year. Because that’s the biggest game he will likely play. Unless they keep winning and then you’ve got some games in the middle to the end of the season that are showcases.”
“I think they’ll have good and bad days. But that was one of the great days in modern college football history. To see literally a dream, a fantasy story come true.”
Regardless of how the rest of the season goes, this was a moment for the ages for Colorado. It seems like only Sanders and his crew saw this coming amid a lot of doubters throughout the sport.