The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Mac Engel penned a piece titled "Deion's Colorado Buffaloes, not the Arizona State Sun Devils, need to be Big 12 champs" to stress how bad for business ASU's 45-19 win over Iowa State was.
With a game like that, one that doesn't involve the conference's biggest box office draw, and quite frankly, no draws at all, the conference has a hard time separating itself from the Mountain West; at least according to Engel.
"Amid the many challenges that exist for Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, convincing the rest of college football that his league is more than the Mountain West 2.0 is atop the list. In the world of the 12-team college football playoff invitational, he presides over 16 schools that fight for one precious spot," Engel wrote (h/t Yahoo Sports).
Engel fears Coach Prime is the only person who can make ESPN pay attention to the Big 12 long enough to not continue showing a bias towards its own brands (SEC, ACC).
"The guy in question wasn’t even at AT&T Stadium. He may make you be sick to your stomach, but Deion Sanders is the only guy, short of a United States Senator, who could force both ESPN, and the professional freeloaders who comprise the college football playoff selection committee, to deviate from their bias," Engel wrote.
What a difference a year makes. Speaking of Sanders' Buffs and the College Football Playoff in the same breath was a one-way ticket to being laughed at a season ago. Now, Sanders is being deemed the literal savior of the conference.
With recruiting wins like Julian Lewis in the fold and the media begging for the Buffs to be in important games, Boulder partying like its 1990 seems to be the will of the people, and hopefully, the universe.