Colorado Fans Won't Like These Big 12 Power Rankings

The Colorado Buffaloes are looking to bounce back from an extremely disappointing 2025 season. The Buffs went 3-9 last year and missed a bowl game for the second time in three seasons under coach Deion Sanders. Colorado is 16-21 in three seasons of the Sanders era.

What does 2026 have in store for Coach Prime and company?

Colorado No. 14 in Big 12 Power Rankings

colorado buffaloes deion sanders coach prime big 12 conference championship power rankings betting odds julian lewis — Apr 11, 2026; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Brett McMurphy of On3 revealed his Big 12 power rankings for the upcoming season. He does not think very highly of the Buffaloes and ranks them No. 14 of out of the 16 teams in the league. Here are McMurphy’s full Big 12 power rankings.

1. Texas Tech Red Raiders
2. BYU Cougars
3. Utah Utes
4. Arizona Wildcats
5. Houston Cougars
6. Kansas State Wildcats
7. TCU Horned Frogs
8. Oklahoma State Cowboys
9. Kansas Jayhawks
10. Arizona State Sun Devils
11. UCF Knights
12. Cincinnati Bearcats
13. Baylor Bears
14. Colorado Buffaloes
15. West Virginia Mountaineers
16. Iowa State Cyclones

NEW: Preseason Big 12 Power Rankings🔥

(via @Brett_McMurphy)https://t.co/UDdnV1UKkD pic.twitter.com/9QcnNqqdB6
— On3 (@On3) June 11, 2026

Colorado went 3-9 in 2025, with just one win coming over a power conference opponent. They finished second to last in the Big 12 with a conference record of 1-8. The only team behind them was Oklahoma State, who went winless in Big 12 play.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Colorado has the worst odds to win the Big 12 championship game at +12000. The current favorites to win it are the defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech Red Raiders with odds of -150.

There are a lot of unknowns for this Colorado team. They have a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and starting quarterback.

This offseason, Colorado hired former Sacramento State Hornets coach Brennan Marion as their offensive coordinator. Marion was the Sac. State coach for just one season in 2025. He led the Hornets to a 7-5 record behind an explosive offense. They averaged 33.8 points per game running Marion’s go-go offense. This offense is known for being up-tempo with two running backs in the backfield with the quarterback.

Colorado’s starting quarterback this season appears to be redshirt freshman Julian Lewis. Lewis played in four games last season as a true freshman, throwing for 589 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He primarily served as the backup to fifth-year quarterback Kaidon Salter, who is now in the CFL.

On the defensive side of the ball, Colorado is now led by defensive coordinator Chris Marve. Marve was hired this offseason to be the Buffs linebackers coach. Colorado’s defensive coordinator Robert Livingston ended up accepting a coaching job with the Denver Broncos shortly after, leaving his position in Boulder vacant.

Deion Sanders decided to promote Marve to defensive coordinator. Marve has experience as a defense coordinator from his time with the Virginia Tech Hokies from 2022-2024.

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