CBS Sports analyst says "It’s very volatile" at Colorado and questions Coach Prime's commitment

The Late Kick Live host struggled on where to place the Buffaloes

While most people closely following Deion Sanders and Colorado are expecting them to compete for a Big 12 championship this fall, some national pundits remain skeptical. Josh Pate, who has double duty as host of Late Kick Live and is an analyst for CBS Sports, recently released his Big 12 program power rankings. His list is not necessarily a prediction of success or failure in 2024, but rather a holistic look at the overall state of the football program. 

Given this will be the second year of the Coach Prime era in Boulder, the top spot was likely never under consideration. However, Pate has teams ahead of CU at No. 10 with some huge shortcomings. Like Arizona, who is bringing in a new coach and lost 20 players to the transfer portal. Not to mention, a TCU team at No. 5 that Colorado beat in Fort Worth to open the season last year. 

The four main criterion used in the rankings were on-field production, talent acquisition, stability, and resource pool.

Pate said he struggled on just where to place Colorado in the rankings. “Where would you put Colorado? We had a fight about this today," he noted.

"So, on one hand, we value on field results, and they’re well below .500 and have been for awhile. We value stability. No one knows year-to-year whether Deion is going to be there…but they’re the best talent acquirer in the Big 12 when you combine recruiting and portal.

"And there’s a ton of energy pumped into the program. So, I don’t know, it’s very volatile. You could put them at 7. You could put them at 12. I don’t know. I have no clue as to where to put Colorado. So, I put them at 10.”

Pate named conference newcomer Utah as the top ranked program. He also hinted at Iowa State and Kansas as teams to watch for as potential college football playoff contenders.