Colorado earns bowl eligibility in Deion Sanders’ second year with win over Cincinnati

Deion Sanders’ Colorado will be playing in the postseason. In Sanders’ second season as head coach after taking over the worst power-conference team in college football, the Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) are bowl eligible after beating Cincinnati 34-23.

Colorado hasn’t played in a bowl game since it went 4-2 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The program hasn’t won a bowl game since 2004, and this season will mark its third bowl appearance since 2007.

Sanders has made frequent references this year to 99-year-old Colorado superfan Peggy Coppom and his promise to get her to a bowl game this season. The Buffaloes are eyeing more than just a bowl, too. Colorado is one of just four Big 12 teams with one or fewer conference losses, leaving it in the mix for the Big 12 title and one of the automatic bids to the 12-team College Football Playoff reserved for the five highest-ranked conference champions.

“I know Peggy. She’s got expensive taste. She don’t just want a bowl. She wants a bowl bowl. And I ain’t talkin’ about Manute (Bol),” Sanders told ESPN during the Buffaloes’ win.

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Two-way star Travis Hunter re-entered the Heisman Trophy race with nine catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns on nine targets. He added four pass breakups and two tackles on defense, playing a total of 130 snaps. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders suffered a hip injury in the second half and received treatment on the sidelines but remained in the game, finishing 25 of 30 for 323 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

“It’s big for us because it’s big for the fans,” Shedeur Sanders said. “We’re not hitting our peak. We’re nowhere close.”

Under new defensive coordinator Rob Livingston, a first-time play caller, the Buffaloes have fashioned a respectable defense. They have also found a running game in recent weeks: last week’s win over Arizona (128 yards) and Saturday’s win (125 yards) were Colorado’s two most successful rushing performances of the season.

Sanders’ transfer-heavy approach to roster building has come under fire throughout his tenure, and the Buffaloes fell short of the postseason a year ago at 4-8 after a 3-0 start made them the biggest story in the sport. A year later, though, Sanders is seeing results.

Now, the Buffaloes have a chance to play into December. The last four games of the season — at Texas Tech, Utah, at Kansas and the home finale against Oklahoma State — will decide how high they climb.