Greg McElroy explains why he expects Colorado to play spoiler in the Big 12 in 2025

Greg McElroy is confident Deion Sanders can keep Colorado humming in 2025. While he’s not expecting them to win the Big 12, he believes the Buffaloes can have a positive season, playing spoiler in the conference throughout the year.

While Coach Prime certainly believes his team can compete with anyone, there aren’t many picking Colorado to end the season atop the Big 12. McElroy explained why that’s more than okay, as a year where they simply play at the same level as the best in the conference is more than acceptable.

“You have this foundation that was laid by Coach Prime. Now, there’s just so much turnover,” McElroy stated, via Always College Football. “Shedeur Sanders is gone. Obviously, some great personnel at wide receivers gone. But I still look at some of the guys they were able to go get. Kaidon Salter, transfer from Liberty. Whether they have him or Julian Lewis, the talented freshman, whoever ends up being the quarterback, they’re going to probably be okay. I think the offensive line the last couple of years has shown some growth.

“They brought in 26 new commitments from the transfer portal. They’re having to plug-and-play. You look at where things are, there’s not as much turnover as there was the last couple of years on defense. They showed some improvement last year. They were 12-points better per game than they were a year ago. They improved by more than 100 yards of total offense, giving up a game from where they were in 2023. They actually led the Big 12 in tackles for loss in sacks. There was great growth from ’23 to ’24.

“Now, it’s just having that foundation. Where can they go from here? Like I said, I don’t think Colorado at this point is really in the mix to go and win the Big 12 this year. There’s just too many teams with more known commodities. I think they can be a huge spoiler for Utah, Kansas State or Arizona State.

“They have to go to TCU, but you’ve got BYU at your place. So, there are some opportunities for Colorado to play the spoiler this year. As far as contending for the playoff, I just think that’s a bridge too far at the moment.”

Alas, we won’t count out Colorado from winning the Big 12, but it’s tough not to agree with McElroy’s sentiment. Regardless, a season of spoiling their conference foe’s hopes and dreams is the next best thing to winning it all, so if that’s what Coach Prime has in store for 2025, many in Boulder will take that.

Deion Sanders is continuing to lay the foundation for future success. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Colorado’s championship dreams won’t be either — 2025 could very well be the year before the year for the Buffaloes. That’s how Greg McElroy is calling it.