Where is Colorado ranked in 2024 College football playoff rankings? Closer look at Deion Sanders' postseason hopes

Deion Sanders has guided the Colorado Buffaloes to qualify for the bowl games this season, marking the program's first eligibility since the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. The Buffs are 6-2 (4-1 Big 12 conference) heading into Week 11.

The college football playoff committee recently released its first rankings for the new 12-team playoffs. So, where did Colorado land in this initial list?

---

Where is Colorado ranked in 2024 college football playoff rankings?

In the initial college football playoff rankings after Week 10, the Buffs are placed at No. 20. They are ranked third in the Big 12 behind Iowa State and the BYU Cougars.

For Coach Prime and the Buffaloes, the path to the 12-team college football playoffs hinges on winning the conference title, which would grant them one of the four automatic playoff bids given to the conference champions of the Big 12, Big 10, SEC and ACC.

However, with only four regular-season games left, including a Week 11 matchup against Texas Tech, this is a challenging goal. Even if Colorado wins its remaining games, its playoff hopes depend on slip-ups from either BYU or Iowa State.

---

Travis Hunter prioritizes helping Colorado to the playoffs over Heisman trophy contention

Colorado's two-way standout Travis Hunter has been stellar in his second year in Boulder, having transferred from Jackson State last year along with Coach Prime and his sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders.

So far, the two-way star has tallied 757 receiving yards and eight TD passes on offense while recording 20 total tackles and two interceptions on defense, making him a prime Heisman candidate.

In an appearance on "2Legendary with Shedeur Sanders" on Wednesday, Hunter talked about how he's willing to set aside his Heisman ambitions to help Colorado make the playoffs:

"Somebody asked me yesterday, would you rather go to the college football playoffs or win the Heisman? The first thing I said is college football playoffs, cause the Heisman will come if we get to the college football playoffs. We got to get there first. We got to win and dominate." (30:15 onwards)

While winning a national championship might be difficult for Colorado this season, Coach Prime's squad has a shot at securing a bowl game victory. The program hasn't won a bowl game since 2004, when they defeated UTEP 33-28.