Colorado HC Deion Sanders takes shot at Pac-12’s late kickoff times: "That is the dumbest thing ever"

Deion Sanders took to the media to express his disappointment regarding the late starts to Pac-12 games this season. His Colorado Buffaloes face a 10 p.m. Eastern Time start on Friday versus the Stanford Cardinal.

As a West Coast conference, the late-starting games suffer from reduced viewership in the rest of the nation. A Pac-12 game that starts at 10 p.m. ends at 2 a.m. on the East Coast, with a game that goes into overtime easily reaching the 2 a.m. mark.

Recently, Deion Sanders lambasted the conference for having such a schedule:

“Thank God we’re not going to be in this conference. Who makes these 8 o’clock games? That is the dumbest thing ever. It’s the stupidest thing ever in life. Who wants to stay up until 8 o’clock for a dern game? What about the East Coast? Do they even care about ratings or anybody watching it?”

On the other hand, the Pac-12 has had several 9 a.m. Pacific and 10 a.m. Mountain starts for noon games on the East Coast.

Given the popularity of Colorado this year with the addition of Sanders as a coach, major networks like Fox have bid intensively to add the school to its most lucrative spots like Big Noon Football. On the other hand, ESPN and Pac-12 have prioritized night kickoffs for the Boulder school. The Buffs are responsible this year for five of the 10 most-watched games this season.

Deion Sanders and Colorado in Week 7

The Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) will receive the Stanford Cardinal (1-4, 0-3) at Folsom Field on Friday, in a clash in which they are 11.5-point favorites. Colorado fans will be happy to hear that two-way starter Travis Hunter is expected to return to the starting lineup.

Deion Sanders said this about the possibility of the player returning during Tuesday's news conference:

"There's a tremendous chance he could play. It goes by how he looks, how he performs in practice, how his wind is. He has to be in shape. I don't want him to be a liability. I want him to always be a tremendous asset.

"Travis, he came to me yesterday morning, and he said, 'What more can I do to help us get to the point that we need to get to?' So, I love the team aspect of Travis, 100 percent. But I hope he can play."

Colorado is coming off a 27-24 victory over Arizona State.