Op-Ed: Nobody cares about Washington when you have Colorado and Deion Sanders

Coach Prime is must-see TV and some people are upset about it

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

There's a section of the country that is upset with Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes back on ABC's primetime lineup with No. 25 UCLA. Those so-called fans got on social media and went into full rants about how the spotlight was being taken away from No. 5 Washington, who'll face Stanford next week. I hate to tell folks, but Deion Sanders is the main attraction. 

The ratings show an overwhelming part of the country watched CU's first seven games with an average 8.5 million viewers through September, according to FOX Sports. ESPN's airing of the Rocky Mountain Showdown with CSU had similar numbers too. It has slowed a bit with 3.3 million people tuning into the Stanford game, but that's with a 10:20 p.m. ET kickoff. 

It's not just television ratings either. All seven of CU games either home or away have been sold out. An eighth is coming with UCLA and the matchup at the Rose Bowl. 

The majority of the country isn't waiting up to see Michael Penix Jr. continue his Heisman campaign. We have highlight packages for that. They want to see Coach Prime work his magic and go against Chip Kelly. That's what the people want and they're going to happily flip over to watch it.      

The Huskies got their moment with a thrilling win over Oregon and they'll likely stay undefeated with a win over Arizona State this weekend. Bravo for that accomplishment. But it's still not the reason to give them a top slot. Congratulations, you're likely the best team in the Pac-12. You're still not going to rake in half the audience Deion Sanders and the Buffs will be recording. 

The naysayers better get used to Colorado being featured regularly on a national network. It's going to be this way for a while. Sanders and the Buffs roll into Pasadena to face UCLA on Oct. 28.