Colorado walked into Big 12 Media Days with a preseason slight hanging over the program, and Deion Sanders didn’t waste much time swatting it away.
The Buffaloes were left off the preseason All-Big 12 team entirely, even after landing one of the country’s most highly regarded transfer portal classes. No Colorado player made the cut. That included wide receiver Danny Scudero, who led the nation with 1,291 receiving yards last season and was recognized as an All-American and a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award.
Sanders, though, treated the vote like background noise.
"We don't care what people say. People are always going to have an opinion," Sanders said during Big 12 Media Days.
He doubled down on that stance with a longer answer that made his point clear: the outside rankings don’t define his team, and they certainly don’t dictate how Colorado sees itself.
"If my kids and my coaches and our staff don't understand who they are, we have a problem. They're not going to allow you to identify who we are.
Just because our guys were snubbed off a poll that's probably not going to be consistent with the end of the season, we don't give a darn. Our kids know who, what, when, where and how they are, and they know what they got to do and how they got to work.
It just gives them that extra 'mmm' inside of them, and I'm thankful and appreciative of that," Sanders continued.
The message was simple: the snub is fuel, not frustration.
That tone fits the way Sanders has handled Colorado over the past three years. He’s never seemed interested in letting public opinion steer the conversation, and this preseason vote didn’t change that. Instead, it gave him another way to frame the season ahead.
There’s also a different feel around the program this year. Sanders said his own health has changed the way he’s been able to operate around the team, and he sounded energized when talking about where he is now.
"My younger self would be proud that I was here last year fighting a battle called cancer, and now I'm here with full strength, full energy," Sanders said. "I got that thing back, I got my swagger back, I got that dog back, I got that charisma back."
That return to full strength has allowed him to be more present throughout the offseason, and that time has already gone into reshaping the staff. New offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and defensive coordinator Chris Marve have brought fresh ideas to Boulder, and players have responded positively. Quarterback Julian "JuJu" Lewis has also pointed to the new coaching staff as a reason he feels more prepared entering this season than he did a year ago.
Add in the transfer class, and the confidence around Colorado stretches beyond Sanders alone.
Still, when Sanders talks about the season, he keeps coming back to the same place: Folsom Field.
"I cannot wait to get back on that sideline and do our thing," Sanders said. "I can't wait to get back to camp.
I can't wait to get back in. I ain't even seen the kids yet that are here.
I can't wait to even see them, because I know they're looking good in our uniforms, but I'm excited about this season and the expectations thereof."
Colorado has already been handed a clean reminder that preseason votes don’t mean much once the games start. Sanders sees that omission as motivation, and the Buffs will get their chance soon enough to prove the voters wrong.
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