Deion Sanders's First Week of Colorado Football, by the Numbers

The Colorado Buffaloes, led by new head coach Deion Sanders, took the college football world by storm when they upset the No. 17-ranked Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in a 45-42 victory on September 2 as a three-touchdown underdog.

The team has already matched its 2022 win total of one game — and as it gears up to face the rival Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 9, the hype around CU has reached heights not seen in decades.

Fans would have to go back to the 1990s and the team's national championship to find the last time the country actually cared about Colorado's football program this much. “Now they believe,” Sanders said to media members after Saturday’s game. “Now Boulder believes. People in the front office, people in the building, the fans, the students — now everybody wants to believe. I’m good with that."

As with Sanders’s contract, in which the school invested $29.5 million over five years, the numbers are evidence of just how high the expectations are for the Buffaloes this year and heading into the future.

With Sanders’s own son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, already smashing school passing records; two-way threat Travis Hunter causing national sports personalities to salivate over his performance; and true freshman running back Dylan Edwards tossing his hat in the ring with four touchdowns, the on-field product has so far lived up to the hype.

Off the field, the team and its star coach are also making an impact.

Here are five numbers that tell the story of the first week of college football for Prime Time's Buffs:

Feelin’ 22: AP Ranks Buffaloes in Top 25

Going into the first game of the season, TCU was ranked No. 17 and CU was unranked. In the new Associated Press Top 25 ranking released on September 5, CU is now at No. 22 — while TCU fell out of the Top 25 completely.

READY FOR PRIME TIME: A season after winning just one game, Deion Sanders-led Colorado is ranked 22nd in the #APTop25 following a shocking Week 1 upset of TCU.https://t.co/W31eP1iW1L

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) September 5, 2023

The Buffaloes were last ranked in the AP Top 25 for just one week in 2020, coming in at No. 21. The team wound up losing its next two games to close out the season. Before that, it was ranked for two weeks in 2018.

In the past twenty seasons, CU has only finished in the Top 25 once: in 2016.

The Buffs were ranked for nine weeks that year. Before then, the team hadn’t been ranked since 2005. So to be in the Top 25 after just one win is something special — but will they make it stick against Nebraska this weekend?

Three ads before the half

Before it was even halftime against TCU, Sanders had already been featured in ads for California Almonds, Aflac and Kentucky Fried Chicken during commercial breaks. In each spot, Sanders — who earned the nickname "Prime Time" in part for his off-field charisma — is dripped out while singing the praises of various products.
Almonds, according to the commercial, help Sanders "stay Prime."

KFC is what he enjoys eating with his whole family.

Aflac, meanwhile, puts Sanders in the room with college football's "Greatest of All Time," or GOAT, head coach: Nick Saban of the University of Alabama. The two team up to promote the insurance company.

"I have as much respect for him as anyone in our profession," Saban told USA Today after working with Sanders on the commercials. “We’re both interested in trying to improve our program, how we sort of motivate players, how we inspire people to do things at a high standard and a high level all the time. So that interaction has been positive for me."

Sanders has always been a marketing mogul — signing deals with Pepsi and Nike early in his career. According to The Athletic, Sanders currently has partnerships with Aflac, Subway, Oikos Yogurt, Chevrolet, KFC and more.

Get in the door for a cool $430

Tickets for Buffaloes games have sold at unprecedented rates this year, with official sales for the home opener against Nebraska sold out before the season even started. On the resale market, prices are skyrocketing.

Over on Ticketmaster, the lowest ticket on Tuesday, September 5, was listed for $430. Some front-row seats are listed for over $10,000. There are a lot of options that will run about $500 to $600 after fees.

Prices for the Buffaloes' September 16 game against Colorado State are high, but not as high as those for this week against the Cornhuskers, with the lowest coming in at $178 and the highest listed at $700. Still not a casual expense, by any means.

By contrast, the Denver Broncos kick off their season on September 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders — an AFC West rival — and the cheapest seats at Empower Field are still going for $130 on Ticketmaster, which is $300 less than the lowest-priced seat at Folsom Field. Prices go up to $1,500 for lower-bowl seats at Empower. But again, that’s much less than the mile-high prices to see the Buffaloes.

Countless celebrities take note on X

Although people took time to dunk on CU Football on Twitter (now X) last year, the team didn’t trend online nearly as much as it did on Saturday, when celebrities and national sports personalities couldn’t help but share their thoughts with the public.

I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. Everyone from around the world of football is talking about the COLORADO BUFFALOES.

WHAT A TIME 🔥🦬 https://t.co/qBYtAh1rOi

— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) September 2, 2023

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson expressed his excitement for the team; athletes Magic Johnson, Patrick Mahomes and JJ Watt tuned in; even Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Bernice King had a few things to say — specifically about the detractors.

“What some call 'showboating' and 'arrogance' in #DeionSanders would be called 'leadership' and 'confidence' by the same some were he white,” she tweeted after the game.

Rapper Snoop Dogg went viral after he posted a hilarious video of himself being blown away by CU.

“Yeehaw!” he exclaimed as an exciting play concluded.

In twelve minutes, Sanders called out the haters seven times

In Sanders’s post-game press conference, he had a message for those who doubted whether his overhaul of the program would lead to on-field success: "Now what?"

“Everybody quiet now,” he added.

That was one of seven times post-game that he directly called out those he dubbed "haters" in his pre-game speech.

The most noted mention was when he singled out ESPN’s Ed Werder, asking him: “Do you believe now?”

When Werder wouldn’t answer, Sanders passed on his question. Werder later quoted USA Today’s Mike Freeman, who posted, “It’s not the job of writers to be cheerleaders for the team.”

“You are so correct,” Werder wrote.

But the ESPN journalist wasn’t the only one whom Sanders wanted to hold accountable. He also called out those who had doubted his son’s ability to be the team’s starting quarterback, those who called the offensive line too small, and people who didn’t believe Hunter was a true Heisman candidate.

“I tried to tell you, but you ain't want to believe me because I’m just a lofty ol' young coach,” Sanders said. “I don’t know nothing about football, I just played in the NFL for fourteen years. I played at a high level in college before and been coaching youth all the way up for a long time. … Travis is him, like the young folks say. Travis is it.”

Sanders insisted he’s not vindictive, however; he just wants people to know he’s aware of their doubts and he pays attention to who is now changing their tune after the shocking victory. “We are gonna continuously be questioned because we do things that have never been done,” he said.

But the NFL legend was not getting too caught up in this first victory. He was looking ahead to Nebraska, and making game plans.

“We gotta be much more dominant next week in all phases,” Sanders said.