Colorado Buffaloes Prediction Could Surprise Deion Sanders Critics

As the Colorado Buffaloes head into the 2026 season, it seems that the pressure on coach Deion Sanders continues to mount with expectations of competing at the top of the Big 12 or at the minimum helping Colorado to become bowl eligible.

Following the 2025 season, Coach Sanders made significant changes on the roster, with Brennan Marion taking over as the offensive coordinator and Chris Marve taking over as the defensive coordinator, in addition to gaining several additions through the transfer portal.

With all of these changes in mind and spring practice concluded, it is time to predict how Colorado will perform in 2026 and if they can meet expectations, in addition to silencing the doubters.

Colorado Buffaloes Prediction Next Season Coach Deion Sanders Brennan Marion Chris Marve Big 12 Julian Lewis College Football — Sep 20, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before the game against the Wyoming Cowboys at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Prediction For Colorado’s 2026 Season

Heading into the 2026 college football season, Coach Prime and the Buffaloes must figure out a way to find success in stacking wins very early on if they want to have a chance to compete at the top of the Big 12 and potentially become bowl eligible.

Based on how difficult the early part of the season is, the prediction for Colorado is that they will finish with a final record of 7-5. If Colorado can put together a season where they do close to seven games, this could be viewed as a very successful season in Boulder.

Throughout the season, the Buffaloes have several rough stretches, which will give Colorado plenty of opportunities to prove where they belong in the Big 12 and in the landscape of college football.

Tough Early Season Stretch

Without question, one of the harder stretches on the Buffaloes' schedule is in the first couple of weeks of the season, where Colorado plays three out of four games on the road. This includes visits to Georgia Tech, Northwestern, and Baylor. However, the Buffaloes do get the benefit of playing Weber State at home, and that stretch should allow them to gain confidence against an FCS opponent.

With these tough games early in the season, it will be interesting to see how Colorado is able to respond, especially with redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Lewis expected to enter the season as the starter. Last season, Lewis was able to gain valuable experience after starting in two games and playing in four games overall.

However, as Lewis enters this season, the pressure on him, as well as Coach Prime, is something that he must learn how to handle very early on, especially with the difficult schedule that Colorado has. If Lewis can perform well early on in the season, the Buffaloes could be in a great position as they move forward through a very tough schedule in the Big 12.

However, one advantage that Colorado does have is the success of Marion, who has been able to constantly create offenses that are explosive and very difficult to prepare for.

With the lack of film that teams will have early on in the season, Lewis and Marion may be able to work well together to create a very dangerous offense that could create matchup problems for even the Buffaloes' toughest opponents.

Key Measuring Stick Games

In addition to the tough early stretch that Colorado Faces, two games near the middle of next season should allow the Buffaloes to see where they stack up in the Big 12. This two-game stretch includes home matchups with Texas Tech and Utah.

Colorado will first play against Texas Tech, which won the Big 12 last season. The one factor that could go a long way in determining this game is who starts for the Red Raiders at quarterback, with the uncertainty surrounding Brendan Sorsby. If Texas Tech is forced to play a quarterback with little experience, this is definitely a game the Buffaloes could win.

After the matchup with Texas Tech, the Buffaloes have their bye week, and then following that will host Utah. With the matchup last season where the Utes physically dominated the Buffaloes, this is an opportunity for Colorado to show they have made significant improvement in the trenches. Utah also has a new coach in Morgan Scalley after the departure of Kyle Whittingham, which could give Colorado its best chance to beat the Utes in the Coach Prime era.

If the Buffaloes do want to compete at the top of the Big 12 in 2026, winning against one of Texas Tech and Utah is paramount, but if they fail to do so, the pressure to win as the season comes to a close could be too much to overcome and result in another tough showing for Colorado.

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