Deion Sanders is doing what he promised at Colorado, but the ‘Prime’ buzz faded fast

Since everyone is out to get Deion Sanders, while they pay him millions of dollars, he needs to thank the powers that be for the schedule they handed his Colorado Buffaloes.

On Saturday, Colorado will play at Texas Tech in Lubbock. Kickoff is 3 p.m. That Deion and CU avoided a November night game in Lubbock is a kiss from Fox Sports that widens his path to the Big 12 title game which his conference desperately needs. There are few places more terrifying in college football than a night game in Lubbock.

Year Two of The Great Deion Experiment in Boulder is going as well as the man promised, and his haters yearn to belittle (Note: “Deion Haters” include those who correct him on the time of day, while pointing at the watch on his wrist).

Between the presence of his son, quarterback Shedeur, and probable Heisman Trophy winner, two-way star Travis Hunter, the Buffaloes are a legit Top 25 team.

CU is 6-2 and ranked No. 21 in the nation, and yet the buzz/interest/excitement about this team feels 2,100 percent less than it was last season. There are multiple reasons for this evolution.

No. 1: We bore quickly

Much to the continued anger of teachers and professors all over the world, our collective attention spans are not broken as much as they are now infinitesimal. Shout out to the late Steve Jobs.

In a swipe culture Deion has about 3.3 seconds before we’re on to the next image, or video of a puppy playing with a kitten. His ability to talk and promote is Ali-esque, but the competition for our attention is so fierce that few people can keep it up.

The idea that Deion was re-inventing college football was laughably dumb. Nothing Deion did/does is any different than other coaches before him, or now. Look past the packaging and marketing, and Coach Sanders is just another P4 coach trying to win games, while expanding his bank account.

Like other coaches, he used the transfer portal to its fullest extent, which no longer registers as significant. Some of his locker room speeches and press conferences are both interesting, and embarrassing. Bullying media members is a boring cliche, and another piece of evidence to confirm that he’s just another coach who simply can’t take anything other than, “Talk about why you’re so great.”

The sport is full of ‘em (see Riley, Lincoln). Because Deion is winning, Colorado yields to his rider.

No. 2 The schedule

Colorado has two losses, at Nebraska by 18, and at Kansas State by 3. It should have lost to Baylor at home on Sept. 21, but Shedeur completed a Hail Mary to tie the game on the last play, and the Buffs won in OT.

Colorado has no wins over any Top 25 team. Its four remaining opponents are not ranked in the Top 25, and only Texas Tech has a winning record.

Considering when Deion was hired, he could not do much about a schedule that works for, and against, his team.

The Buffs have proven to be better than their mediocre competition, which is part of the “game” of college football. Every year there are a few teams that fatten up against weak opponents; No. 8 Indiana University is 9-0, and looks like it will finish the regular season no worse than 11-1. The Hoosiers have defeated no Top 25 teams, and only two of their wins are against opponents that currently have winning records; Nebraska and Washington are 5-4.

There is one glaring difference between Indiana and Colorado’s circumstances.

No. 3 The conference

The biggest reason why fewer people are paying attention to Deion’s Buffaloes has mostly to do with the fact that college football is a two-league competition, and he’s not in it. Seven of the top eight teams in the nation are from the Big 10 or SEC.

In this new model Deion is the best development for the Big 12, and the power of his personality can only do so much.

The Big 10 will always be overrated, but it wisely cornered the market on big market, power brands in college athletics. Deion can’t out-wit, or victim, his way around this fact.

Despite what some pundits may declare, the Big 12 is not the Big Sky, or some random FCS league. It’s a fun league, and there are viable potential playoff teams here, but nothing more.

TheBigSEC10 looks like an anti-trust lawsuit waiting to happen, and finding a lawyer or two, or 100, to file such a claim feels believable. Until the FCC, FAA or FFA comes to break up TheBigSEC10, there isn’t much Deion can do about the perception of the strength of his conference.

The Big 12 is pretty good, as are the Buffaloes. Considering where Colorado was before Deion arrived, this is an achievement.

Anything beyond that is packaging and marketing.