Deion Sanders and Colorado can’t sleep on Texas Tech with Big 12 title dreams

For Coach Prime’s second Buffalo group, it’s simple. Keep winning and pray that one of Iowa State’s four opponents can beat the 17th-ranked Cyclones. A road game at Utah and a season finale home game against No. 22 Kansas State remain on ISU’s schedule. The buffs need the Cats or someone else to bring the Cyclones down.

Two disappointments opened the door to hope. Now the question becomes: Can the Buffs open him wide? There are four games remaining, three against last-place finishers Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State. Ahead in Lubbock? The Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated previously undefeated Iowa State on the road. Technology now has a say and is hungry for more.

In the preseason, the Big 12 was touted as one of the most unpredictable “Power Four” conferences. It didn’t disappoint. BYU is undefeated but still has games to play at Arizona State (currently 6-2) and Utah. The Utes are down this year after losing their talented cornerback Cam Rising, but would like to play the spoiler role against Colorado and BYU.

The Cougars were ranked 13th out of 16 teams in the conference in the preseason poll, two spots behind the Buffs. Preseason forecasters have suggested that the Big 12 Conference’s bottom runners are expected to be in prime position to play for the championship on Dec. 7 at Jerry’s World Stadium in Dallas.

All this madness brings the old head back to the wild and crazy 1990 season. Hall of Fame coach Bill McCartney’s Buffs are off to a 1-1-1 start. This was not the plan as most respected national polls expected Colorado to compete for the national title after the tragic but magical 1989 “One Heartbeat” season.

Why Deion Sanders doesn’t want Colorado to finish ranked

Colorado opened the 1990 campaign with a tie against Tennessee in the Pigskin Classic. It was a blast for future NFL first-round pick Mike Pritchard. The second game was at home against Stanford, and Eric Bieniemy’s last-second jumper prevented a disastrous loss. Game three was a disappointing loss at Illinois, where the Buffs squandered a 17–3 lead and lost 23–22.

I’ll never forget interviewing the downtrodden Buffs in a tiny, crowded locker room in Champaign, Illinois, after a devastating loss. Nearly every player or coach interviewed solemnly declared, “We have to forget about this talk of a ‘national championship’ and focus on winning the Big Eight.” It was similar to how Coach Prime and his players conducted themselves after Nebraska.

Longtime Buff fans know what happened next. Colorado reeled off ten straight wins, including a fifth-place finish at Missouri, and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl for the school’s only national championship. It was a split decision. The Buffs won the AP Poll, and undefeated Georgia Tech won the UPI Coaches Poll (thanks to Tom Osborne).

Deion Sanders asks if Texas Tech tradition is illegal before fight

There was no playoff system back then. Georgia Tech’s ACC champion status didn’t stop the Yellow Jackets from finishing second in the Orange Bowl to face Big Eight automatic champion top-ranked Colorado in the title decider. But the Orange Bowl committee wanted Buffalo’s opponent to be Notre Dame rather than Georgia Tech because Notre Dame had more fans and could make more money and improve television ratings. Money talks then and now.

Let’s return to the present. Watching Iowa State lose at home to Texas Tech and K-State lose on the road to Houston stirred emotions for the 1990 team. He needed help just as Prime’s team needed help now.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Texas Tech is riding high after rallying late in Ames. Third-year coach Joey McGuire’s team will be playing in front of a rabid home crowd and would like nothing better than to ruin CU’s dream of an “incredible season.”

There are others trying to devalue the team. Coach Prime is reported to have harped great attention to studies this bye week. “Discipline on the field, in the classroom and everywhere produces champions” is a kind of rhetoric. Reminds your scribe of McCartney again. He always says, “Love them after bereavement, but humble them when they fly high.”

The buffs are running. Lady Luck also appeared. Buff fans hope the Red Raiders don’t become CU’s dream Raiders.