Legendary sports analyst predicts long-term plan for Colorado HC and the Buffs: "Deion Sanders will have a championship-caliber program"

Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders arrived in Boulder to much fanfare in 2022. He fanned the flames of the college football world's hopes with some early eye-catching wins. Unfortunately for him, the Buffs fell off and ended the season 4-8, but the eyes of the football world will still be on the team next season.

During an interview with Fox Sports, Las Vegas oddsmaker Kenny White created a system that predicts a team's strength as the season progresses. Here, 100 points are assigned to an average team. When Sanders took over the Buffs, they had an 81.5 rating in his system.

The highest rating garnered by Colorado was 104.5 after wins against the TCU Horned Frogs and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. This was before the wheels fell off in a huge 42-6 loss against coach Dan Lanning's Oregon Ducks in Eugene. The Buffs finished the season with a 92.5 rating in White's system.

White revealed what he expected of Deion Sanders and Colorado next season in what will be the charismatic coach's second year in the FBS.

"They’re going to be a fringe top 25 team," White said. "Deion knows how to bring in talent. It’s very tough to imagine them taking a step back with all the new talent, plus Sanders and Hunter both back in Boulder. They’ll probably be around 110 in my numbers.

"Players make coaches look good and Deion Sanders is a fabulous recruiter," White said. "Guys want to play for him, that’s obvious. If he stays at Colorado, he’ll have a championship-caliber program there by his fourth season."

Optimism surrounding Deion Sanders downplayed

CBS Sports analyst David Cobb was doubtful about how well Deion Sanders will fare next season. This is due to the weaknesses he sees in the team despite the high turnover via the transfer portal.

"Sanders’ first season as an FBS coach started with a bang, but ended with six straight losses. He’s generated buzz and excitement by talking a big game and collecting strong transfer talent. But the foundation has cracks — see the offensive line for one example — as the Buffaloes transition to the Big 12 and face another tough schedule," Cobb wrote.

A combined CBS Sports and 247Sports analysts' ranking released this week ranked coach Deion Sanders at No. 61 among the 68 Power Four college football head coaches. He was only just ahead of Big 12 rival Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham.

The Buffs and their coach will start the season as underdogs once again due to how they ended last season. They will have to justify the hype surrounding their program once again.