Paul Finebaum details Deion Sanders' Colorado's biggest threats to glory amid Big 12 championship chatter

Head coach Deion Sanders and the No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 41-17 Nov. 9 for their third win in a row. The win put them in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 and they are now well-positioned to make the Big 12 championship game. As things stand ahead of Week 12, they would play BYU in that title game.

It has been an unexpected run to the top of the conference for "Coach Prime" and his Colorado squad. ESPN's Paul Finebaum spoke about Colorado's path forward on First Take on Wednesday.

"I think right now they're going to get in. It’s a matter of having to beat the rest of the teams on their schedule, which I think they will. Then, win the championship game against BYU, which I think they’re very capable of."

Finebaum spoke about importance of focusing on task at hand for Buffaloes

Finebaum also talked about how there is consistently more discourse around the Buffaloes because of who Sanders is. There is talk about Sanders leaving Colorado to go to the Dallas Cowboys, given his ties to the organization. However, Finebaum spoke about the importance of Sanders and his squad not letting outside noise become a distraction.

"And I keep saying this but if you go back to Jackson State, which may not be a fair comparison, at the end of the last two seasons there, there was a lot of speculation about Prime. He might be leaving, and they lost those bowl games."

"I think that’s his biggest challenge. I think he’s capable of it… just keeping the noise out. Obviously, the Dallas story is rampant, which you [Stephen A. Smith] sat here the other day and reverberated around the sports world if he can manage to do that."

"I think he can, his players have shut out everything in the past, then I think they’ll win out, get to the playoff, and we have ourselves one of the great stories in college football history."

Colorado's fate is in its own hands. To make the championship game, all the Buffaloes need to do is win their final three contests against Utah, Kansas, and Oklahoma State.