5 college football teams that will be better than you think in 2024
By John Buhler
3. Colorado Buffaloes return to a familiar league, now with Coach Prime
This could come back to haunt me, but I am bullish on all things Colorado Buffaloes for next season. It will be year two under Deion Sanders. While he has made a killing picking up players in the transfer portal, this is also year two of him being able to recruit high schoolers to Boulder, as well as year two of Pat Shurmur calling plays, to some extent. More importantly, Colorado is going back to the Big 12.
This has been a talking point my FanSided.com colleague and False Start co-host Cody Williams has been talking about all offseason: How huge it is for Colorado to be back in the Big 12. This is a league, as well as its predecessor of the old Big Eight, that CU saw its most gridiron success, whether that was under Bill McCartney during the Buffs' heyday or a little later under Gary Barnett in the 2000s.
Colorado retains regional rivals, as well as being better equipped to recruit talent-rich states now in the new/old conference of Florida (UCF), Ohio (Cincinnati) and Texas (Baylor, Houston, TCU, Texas Tech). Factor in Shedeur Sanders being a Heisman Trophy hopeful, and it would not shock me if the Buffs went something like 8-4 in its first year back in the Big 12. This team is so close to being great.
With the Big 12 wide open after the Oklahoma and Texas exoduses, upwards of 12 teams can win it.