Before he started his third season at Colorado in 2025, coach Deion Sanders proclaimed he had assembled his best team ever.
Then the Buffaloes finished with a 3-9 record.
This year, he says he has a “pretty good football team” along with his “best coaching staff” ever.
Should anybody believe him this time?
The experts and oddsmakers don’t and are picking his team to finish near the bottom of the Big 12.
But I do believe him and am picking Colorado to finish among the top 3 in the league, along with Texas Tech and BYU. Here are five reasons as the Buffs prepare to open the season Thursday, Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech (8 p.m. ET; ESPN).
1. Deion Sanders changed his formula
Sanders deserves credit for innovating and adjusting in the age of unlimited annual player transfers. He was the first transfer portal king in 2023 before it was considered cool in college football. This year, he entered the summer with 41 new scholarship transfers from other four-year colleges, including 23 from outside the Power Four conferences, according to CU records.
In a change from before, Sanders favored production over potential with this group, much like Indiana did last year on its run to the national championship. Of those 23 transfers from the lower rungs of Division I, 16 are former starters.
That list doesn’t even count wide receiver transfer Kam Perry, a walk-on who started 12 games last year at Miami (Ohio) and made 43 catches for 976 yards.
2. Offensive coordinator Brennan Marion has the edge
Marion is Sanders’ third offensive coordinator in four seasons but also the edgiest since the Buffs shocked the nation with a 3-0 start under then-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis in 2023.
Marion’s Go-Go offense is eclectic enough to spin the heads of opposing defenses and has averaged at least 33 points per game since 2023, when he was offensive coordinator at UNLV.
His background and leadership pedigree also make him a potential successor to Sanders someday, continuing the upward climb he’s been making ever since he was homeless in junior college and slept under the bleachers of the stadium.
3. Quarterback Julian Lewis is a winner
Colorado started three quarterbacks last year, which is another way of saying they didn’t have any good enough for Sanders. Lewis was one of those starters for two of those games but was only 18 years old as a touted freshman out of Georgia. This is his moment. He compiled a 39-4 record as a three-year starter in high school and has the potential to lead Colorado to a special season if he adjusts well to Marion’s offense early on.
Marion has said Lewis has a “million-dollar arm” and especially wants to win the season opener in his home state.
“He understands how to win a football game,” Marion said Aug. 27.
This time, he’ll benefit from a big, beefy offensive line averaging well over 300 pounds apiece, plus a crew of talented receivers, including Texas transfer DeAndre Moore.
4. Colorado has a totally new defense
The Buffs made a clean break from last year, when they ranked 135th out of 136 major college teams in rushing yards allowed per game with 222.5. They have a new defensive coordinator (Chris Marve), new cornerbacks coach (Aaron Fletcher), new defensive line coach (Dante Carter) and new safeties coach (Vonn Bell) to go with an all-new starting lineup. It features playmakers who have drawn raves, including Tennessee transfer defensive back Boo Carter and Notre Dame transfer cornerback Cree Thomas.
Sanders especially praised his linebackers, which include Texas transfer Liona Lefau.
“I can’t say enough about them,” Sanders said Aug. 14. “They’re extraordinary. They’re probably the best position group on this team.”
5. Nobody really knows anything
Texas Tech once again has the best roster that money can buy in the Big 12. BYU also has the stars to compete for the Big 12 title, just like the Cougars did in 2024 and 2025. But after that, who really knows with so many players changing teams every year? Why not Colorado?
Sanders has been up and down in Boulder to the extreme — a 3-0 start in 2023, followed by a 1-8 finish, then a 9-4 season in 2024 and a 3-9 season in 2025. The prediction here is the pendulum is swinging back, especially with expectations so low now outside of Colorado.
On the other hand, what happens if the Buffs get crushed in their opener in Atlanta? Their season could plunge downhill from there with two of their next three games on the road. But a win there could have the opposite effect, and this team is too improved to let that happen anyway.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
Colorado football 2026 schedule
- Sept. 3: at Georgia Tech, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 12: vs. Weber State, 3:30 p.m.
- Sept. 19: at Northwestern, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 26: at Baylor
- Oct. 3: vs. Texas Tech
- Oct. 17: vs. Utah
- Oct. 24: at Oklahoma State
- Oct. 31: vs. Kansas State
- Nov. 7: at Arizona State
- Nov. 13: vs. Houston, 10:15 p.m.
- Nov. 21: at Cincinnati
- Nov. 28: vs. UCF