Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The cupcake schedules are wrapping up in college football, and we’ve already got some storylines starting to establish themselves early in the 2024 season.
Before the start of the Saturday slate of games, let’s take a look at what is going on:
Pac-12 not dead yet?
News came down Thursday morning that starting in the 2026-27 academic year, Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State would be joining Oregon State and Washington State as members of the Pac-12, as the conference looks to become an official conference again.
The NCAA requires eight members to become a conference, so the new Pac-12 still needs two more programs.
While this is not the Pac-12 of old, and really could just be considered the Mountain West with all four teams added coming from that conference, in an era of uncertainty with conferences, it’s great to see a recently thought dead conference come back to life.
Even if it feels eerily similar to Frankenstin’s Monster.
Deion’s last chance to prove something
It may only be game No. 2 of Year 2, but for Deion Sanders and Colorado, a 28-10 beatdown from rival Nebraska - a program who is also into Year 2 of a rebuild - does not point toward a brighter future.
Colorado, who is absolutely relevant for the first time in my life, is now more known for trash talking anyone who breathes, and making a lot of TikTok. Things haven't been really about winning football games, as Sanders is 5-9 as head coach of the Buffaloes as of now.
Taking a one-win team in 2022 to four one year later is commendable, in most circumstances, but Colorado refuses to be a quiet rebuild. And after a hot start in 2023, the program went on to lose the final six games of the season to finish 4-8.
Now 1-1 in the 2024 campaign, the biggest problem is the trash talking hasn’t stopped, Sanders has gotten into spats with reporters who criticize the program, and now Sanders' son, Shedeur - the team's starting quarterback - is vocalizing his disappointment with the offensive line.
This is a long-winded way to say the team has Sanders and Travis Hunter, but not much else.
The Buffaloes will now travel to Fort Collins, Colorado to take on Colorado State on Saturday in, what could be, do or die for the Colorado faithful.
Sanders won’t get fired if they lose. He has been a massive positive to the school and the relevance of the program, but it will signify that as of now, Colorado is not a serious program and the Deion Sanders effect can only last so long without wins.
Marque games for the weekend
Starting on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET, No. 20 Arizona takes on No. 14 Kansas State in a BIG 12 matchup that sees two teams who believe they could be in the new 12-team College Football Playoff at the end of the season, and a reminder that conference champs of the SEC, ACC, BIG 10 and BIG 12 get automatic spot.
This is a massive matchup early in the season, and Kansas State is a 7-point home favorite.
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No. 4 Alabama visits Wisconsin, as they will kick off the 12 p.m. ET window on Saturday, and this game is full of storylines.
Alabama scored three touchdowns in the final six minutes of play against South Florida, but this game was closer than the 42-16 final score indicated. Were Alabama’s struggles against a fluke?
With Kalen DeBoer at the helm now, there is a level of uncertainty in 'Bama for the first time in well over a decade. While they are 16.5-point road favorite, it is a good test for DeBoer, who is trying to establish himself as, arguably, the program of the 2000s.
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Kickoff for the UB Bulls comes Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, as they host UMass at UB Stadium.
It will be a nice middle-ground between the two teams Buffalo has already faced - A top-10 Missouri team and an FCS school.
Now in just his third game in charge at Buffalo, Pete Lambo has brought some excitement to the program. Starting 2-1, in a game televised on CBS Sports before traveling to newly ranked No. 25 North Illinois, could be a great start to a program trying to rebuild.
Buffalo comes in as a 3.5-point favorite.
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While we don’t have a matchup as highly promoted as Texas vs. Michigan like last week, it is still a good week to find yourself stuck to a couch for a few hours, especially with so much uncertainty in college with seemingly only a few teams actually establishing themselves as clear cut contenders.
