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The Cowboys meeting with Colorado on Nov. 21 in Boulder looks as if it will have plenty of star power on the field, but it might have even more on the sideline.
There might not be two more nationally recognizable college football coaches in 2024 than Mike Gundy and Deion Sanders. Nick Saban retired. Jim Harbaugh went back to the NFL. There are other easily recognizable names like Dabo Swinney, Brian Kelly and Jimbo Fisher. But as far as entertainment value goes, it’s hard to imagine more personality on opposite sidelines than a rattlesnake-hunting, mullet-wearing, rant-giving Gundy and the flashy, confident Sanders.
It feels like movie posters could be made for the game. Like a UFC-type stare down should be arranged to promote such an event. And a cool aspect about it is the mutual respect both have for each other, as was evident at Big 12 Media Days this week.
“Coach Gundy is a darned legend,” said Sanders Wednesday in a manner only he could.
“I think we’re lucky in our league that he’s with us because he brings more people and notoriety and viewers to the Big 12 Conference, and that’s what makes it go,” Gundy said Tuesday. “We need viewership. We want people to watch our teams play. It will be fun to have him in our league. It will be fun — it’s fun for me to have Colorado back in our league and to be able to compete against him. I can only imagine what his competitive level is. So that will be fun to have him in the league.”
Now, it would be great if the game also remotely lived up to the hype that the star-studded sidelines provide. Given that the Buffaloes went 4-8 in Sanders’ first season, that would lead rational thinking to believe the Cowboys would be a favorite in the game, considering OSU is coming off a 10-4 season. But that was just Year 1 of the Sanders Era in Boulder, and it was an improvement from the 1-11 season Colorado had the year prior.
Sanders hit the portal hard again this offseason — bringing in 42 transfer, according to 247Sports. The group includes four four-star defensive lineman, a four-star offensive lineman, a four-star wide receiver, a four-star tight end and a four-star safety. Sanders also landed incoming freshman Jordan Seaton, who was a five-star offensive line prospect in the 2024 class. Oh, and Sanders grabbed a former Poke out of the portal in corner DJ McKinney, who was solid as a Cowboy last season. That added to Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders — two potential first-round picks — could see CU take another step forward.
The game also has some unique timing to it in that it’s at 11 a.m. (Central) on Black Friday, but that could play into the game’s intrigue. It’s hard to imagine it’ll be competing for eyeballs at that spot, and who knows what the weather in Boulder will be like on that late-November morning?
As the Big 12 looks to gain standing in this volatile college athletic landscape, this meeting of highly publicized and highly entertaining coaches has the potential to capture the college football zeitgeist for its moment in the sun (or snow).
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Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.